Timor - History, Trivia

pop (2000e) 1 905 000; area 33 912 km²/13 090 sq mi. Mountainous island in SE Asia, in the Sunda group, NW of Australia; divided between Portugal and Holland, 1859; West Timor (former Dutch Timor) included in Indonesia at independence, administered as part of the province of Nusa Tenggara Timur; capital, Kupang; coffee, coconuts, maize; former Portuguese territory of East Timor granted full independence, 2002 (see East Timor).

Timor is an island at the south end of the Malay Archipelago, divided between the independent state of East Timor, and West Timor, part of the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara with the surface of 11,883 sq mi (30,777 km²). To the west-northwest of Timor are the islands of Flores and Alor, and to its northeast are the Barat Daya Islands, including Wetar.

Timor has older geology but lacks the volcanic nature of the Lesser Sunda Islands, together with a different main axis of the island these features have been explained as the result of being a northern edge of the Indo-Australian Plate as it pushes into South East Asia. Timor, together with the Lesser Sunda Islands to the northwest and the smaller islands to the northeast, is covered by tropical dry broadleaf forests. Timor, the Barat Daya Islands, and the smaller islands to the northeast of Timor constitute the Timor and Wetar deciduous forests ecoregion.

History

The island has been politically divided in two parts for centuries: West Timor, which was known as Dutch Timor from the 1800s until 1949 when it became Indonesian Timor, a part of the nation of Indonesia which was formed from the old Netherlands East Indies; and East Timor which was known as Portuguese Timor from 1596 until 1975. (See Battle of Timor.)

Following an Indonesian invasion in 1975, East Timor was annexed by Indonesia and was known as Timor Timur or 'Tim-Tim' for short.

One of the greatest fears of the Indonesian Government concerning East Timor has always been the possibility of the western part of the island being encouraged, after the eastern part's independence, to attempt to join the latter in a fully independent island-nation. Indonesian intelligence confirmed the arousal of a Timor Raya (Great Timor) movement, active since 2001, in the island's western side.

Trivia

According to local mythology, the island of Timor was a giant crocodile. It speaks of the violence in Timor and a perceived dearth of coverage in the West.However, in the Indonesian edition of the album, the song's title appears as "It's Alright" instead of "Timor".