Geography of East Timor explained
East Timor includes the mountainous eastern half of Timor, the Ocussi-Ambeno region on the northwest portion of the island of Timor, and the islands of Atauro and Jaco. The country is located northwest of Australia in the Lesser Sunda Islands at the eastern end of the Indonesian Archipelago. 'Timor' is a Portuguese derivation of 'Timor', the Malay word for "Orient"; the island of Timor is part of the Malay Archipelago and is the largest and easternmost of the Lesser Sunda Islands. East Timor is the only Asian nation to lie entirely within the Southern Hemisphere. The Loes River is the longest with a length of 800NaN0. This river system covers an area of 21840NaN0. It is a small country with a land size of 149190NaN0. The exclusive economic zone is 70326km2.[1]
Statistics
- Area
- Land boundaries
- Border countries: Indonesia (253km (157miles))
- Coastline:
7060NaN0
- Maritime claims
Elevation extremes
- Natural resources:
Gold, petroleum, natural gas, manganese, marble
- Land use
- Irrigated land:
346.50NaN0 (2003)Climate
The islands have a tropical savanna climate, bordering on a tropical monsoon climate; hot and humid with distinct rainy and dry seasons. Tropical cyclones do occur along with floods.
Environment
- Natural hazards:
Landslides are common; earthquakes; and tsunamis.
- Environment - current issues
Widespread use of slash and burn agriculture has led to deforestation and soil erosion.
- Environment - international agreements:
Biodiversity, climate change, climate change-Kyoto Protocol, desertificationReferences
- Much of the material in this article is adapted from the CIA World Factbook 2000 and 2012.
Further reading
- Book: Crosby . Michael J . Important Bird Areas in Timor-Leste . 2007 . BirdLife International . 9780946888597.
- Kaiser . Hinrich . Carvalho . Venancio Lopes . Ceballos . Jester . Freed . Paul . Heacox . Scott . Lester . Barbara . Richards . Stephen J. . Trainor . Colin R. . Sanchez . Caitlin . O’Shea . Mark . 20 June 2011 . The herpetofauna of Timor-Leste: a first report . ZooKeys . 109 . 19–86 . 10.3897/zookeys.109.1439 . 1313-2970 . 3118819 . 21852932 . free .
- Kaiser . Hinrich . Sanchez . Caitlin . Heacox . Scott . Kathriner . Andrew . Ribeiro . Agivedo Varela . Soares . Zito Afranio . Araujo . Luis Lemos de . Mecke . Sven . O’Shea . Mark . 1 August 2013 . First report on the herpetofauna of Ataúro Island, Timor Leste . Check List . 9 . 4 . 752–762 . 10.15560/9.4.752 . 1809-127X . free .
- O'Shea . Mark . Sanchez . Caitlin . Kathriner . Andrew . Mecke . Sven . Carvalho . Venancio Lopes . Ribeiro . Agivedo Varela . Soares . Zito Afranio . Araujo . Luis Lemos de . Kaiser . Hinrich . 25 June 2015 . Herpetological Diversity of Timor-Leste: Updates and a Review of Species Distributions . Asian Herpetological Research . 6 . 2 . 72–131 . 10.16373/j.cnki.ahr.140066 . 2095-0357.
- Sanchez . Caitlin . Carvalho . Venancio Lopes . Kathriner . Andrew . O'Shea . Mark . Kaiser . Hinrich . January 2012 . First Report on the Herpetofauna of the Oecusse District, an Exclave of Timor-Leste . Herptology Notes . 5 . 137–149.
Notes and References
- http://www.seaaroundus.org/eez/summaryInfo.aspx?eez=608# Exclusive Economic Zones
