West Timor

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Timor, with the west in orange

Map of the islands of East Nusa Tenggara, including West Timor.

West Timor is the Indonesian portion of the island of Timor and forms part of the province of Nusa Tenggara Timur, (NTT or East Nusa Tenggara). West Timor's capital and chief port is Kupang. The land area of West Timor is 15,850 km². Oecussi-Ambeno district is a small enclave within West Timor which is politically part of East Timor. During the colonial period it was known as Dutch Timor and was a centre of Dutch loyalists during the Indonesian War of Independence (1945 - 1949). From 1949 to 1975 it was called Indonesian Timor.

Rote Island, the southernmost island of Indonesia, is just to the southwest of West Timor.

Three native languages belonging of Fabronic Stock of the Austronesian group of languages are spoken in West Timor, the others in East Timor. These languages are Ndaonese, Rotinese, and Helong. Indonesian is also spoken as the official national language of Indonesia.

1 History
2 Demographics
3 Economy
4 See also

[edit] History

European colonization of Timor started in the 16th century. Although the Portuguese claimed the island of Timor in 1520, the Dutch (in the form of the Dutch East India Company) settled West Timor in 1640, forcing the Portuguese out to East Timor. The subsequent collapse of the company meant that in 1799 the area returned to official Dutch rule. Finally, in 1914 the border between East and West Timor was finalized by a treaty between Holland and Portugal that was originally signed in 1859 and modified in 1893.

Japan conquered the island as part of World War II in early 1942. August 17, 1945 saw Indonesian Independence declared, just three days after the Japanese surrender. The Dutch returned but faced a war with republican guerrillas, the eventual outcome of which was the proclamation of Republic of Indonesia in 1950, which made West Timor a part of Nusa Tenggarra Timur province.

[edit] Demographics

West Timor has a population estimated (officially) in 2005 at 1,953,965 inhabitants. Administratively it comprises four regencies of the province of Nusa Tenggara Timur - Kupang, Timor Tengah Selatan, Timor Tengah Utara and Belu, plus the city of Kupang which has a separate regency-level status. The population is mostly of Austronesian, Papuan or Polynesian extraction, with a tiny ethnic Chinese group. About half of the population belongs to the Atoni ethnicity. West Timor's main religions are Catholic (56%), Protestant (35%) and Muslim (8%).

[edit] Economy

West Timor has an unemployment rate of 10% with significant underemployment. [1] Per capita income is roughly one-third the national average with most other socio-economic indicators lagging behind the Indonesian average. [2] Most measurable economic activity is centered around the city of Kupang. [3]