East Timor

East Timor

East Timor, a Southeast Asian country located to the north of Australia, consists of the eastern part of Timor Island in the east of the Indonesian archipelago, the Oecusse (Ambeno) region in the northern part of the same island, and the islands of Pulau Atauro and Pulau Jaco. Malaya-Polynesians, Papuans, and Chinese live there as ethnic groups.

 

In East Timor, 98% of the population is Christian, but in a significant part of the society, Christianity is tangled in local beliefs. The Catholic population in the country is one of the highest in the world at around 95%. However, it is believed that this rate increased due to the constitution's prohibition of animist beliefs during the Indonesian rule and mass conversions to Catholic Christianity.

 

While nearly 100,000 Muslims lived in the region until the country's independence in 1999, numerous Muslims migrated to the western part of Timor Island or to other parts of Indonesia after the declaration of independence. Today, the population of Muslims living in the country is around 4,000-5,000. The majority of East Timorese Muslims are of Indonesian and Malay descent, as well as a few Arabs. Muslims mostly congregate in the city of Dili, where the largest mosque in the country, the Nur Mosque, is located. There are six mosques in the country, four of which are in Dili.

 

Mari Alkatiri, who served as the country's first prime minister after independence in 2002-2006, and then for the second time in 2017-2018, is a Muslim of Yemeni origin.