The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, generally known in English as East Timor, is the former Portuguese colony on Timor, the southeasternmost major island of the Indonesian archipelago. Colonized by Portugal in the 16th century, Timor-Leste was a remnant of the once-extensive Portuguese Empire in the Indies. Indonesian troops seized the country when Portugal withdrew in 1975. This led to a long struggle for independence until Indonesia withdrew in 1999 and an independent nation was formally established in 2002. Timor-Leste occupies the eastern half of the island of Timor plus the exclave of Oecusse on the northern coast of Indonesian West Timor. The country is divided into 14 municipalities and has a total population of more than 1.3 million. Dili, located on the north coast, is the capital and the traditional port, but in 2022 a new, modern container port was established at Tibar Bay. Portuguese remains an official language in Timor-Leste in addition to the indigenous language, Tetum. The Portuguese word for a lighthouse is farol, plural faróis; a small lightbeacon is often called a farolim. In Portuguese ilha is an island, ilhéu is an islet, cabo is a cape, ponta is a promontory or point of land, rocha is a rock, recife is a reef, baía is a bay, estreito is a strait, rio is a river, and porto is a port or harbor. Aids to navigation in Timor-Leste are presumably operated by the appropriate port authorities. The Port of Dili is now operated by the Timor-Leste Customs Authority and the Port of Tibar Bay is operated by Bolloré Transport and Logistics, a French company, under contract to the government. ARLHS numbers are from the ARLHS World List of Lights. Admiralty numbers are from volume Q of the Admiralty List of Lights & Fog Signals. U.S. NGA List numbers are from Publication 112.
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Information available on lost lighthouses:
Notable faux lighthouses:
Adjoining page: North: Southern Maluku | West: Rote and West Timor
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Posted April 13, 2006. Checked and revised December 12, 2024. Lighthouses: 13. Site copyright 2024 Russ Rowlett and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.