# Timor-Leste country guide

Reviewed 25 October 2026. Routes: `/atlas/timor-leste` and `/facts/tl`.

The dedicated guide adds ten illustrated topics, thirty answered reading
questions, a sixteen-settlement map game, fourteen sights and links to the
existing Portuguese lessons. Shared registries expose it in the guide directory,
country links and sitemap. The regional Asian adapter also returns the dedicated
reading. Portuguese lessons are described as general Portuguese, not Tetum.

## References and editorial decisions

- Government country profile: https://timor-leste.gov.tl/?p=547&lang=en
  Used for the two independence dates, capital, currency and territorial context.
  This page retains 2010 population data and an old district list, so those
  figures are not copied into the guide. Published heights for Tatamailau differ;
  the guide identifies the highest mountain without fixing one elevation.
- Constitution: https://timor-leste.gov.tl/?cat=37&lang=en
  Tetum and Portuguese are official languages. English and Indonesian have a
  separate transitional working-language status. Papuan is a broad grouping of
  non-Austronesian languages, not one language family or one ancestry category.
- Political system: https://timor-leste.gov.tl/?p=33&lang=en
  Distinguishes the directly elected president, prime minister and unicameral
  parliament. Atauro became a separate municipality in 2022; Oecusse-Ambeno has
  special administrative status. The map game shows settlements, not boundaries.
- ASEAN accession follow-up, 4 December 2025:
  https://timor-leste.gov.tl/?p=46285&lang=en
  Explicitly confirms accession on 26 October 2025 as ASEAN’s eleventh member.
  The guide does not describe Timor-Leste as still awaiting membership.
- United Nations historical mission:
  https://peacekeeping.un.org/mission/past/etimor/etimor.htm
  The 1999 ballot rejected special autonomy within Indonesia. The 1975 declaration
  and 2002 restoration are separate anniversaries. Xanana Gusmão’s 2002 presidency
  is distinguished from Francisco Xavier do Amaral’s 1975 presidency.
- Central Bank: https://www.bancocentral.tl/
  Currency and Petroleum Fund context. No current fund balance, trade ranking,
  forecast or assertion that every coffee crop is certified organic is used.
- UNESCO tais: https://ich.unesco.org/en/USL/tais-traditional-textile-01688
  Tais was inscribed in 2021 on the intangible heritage Urgent Safeguarding List;
  this is not a World Heritage site inscription. The UNESCO page returned a
  JavaScript challenge during this review; the established inscription is cited
  without claiming a fresh check of later committee decisions.
- Tourism context: https://www.timorleste.tl/
- Centro Nacional Chega!: https://centrochega.gov.tl/
- Nobel Peace Prize 1996:
  https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/1996/summary/
  Some external reference sites reject automated requests. No current opening
  hours, permissions, wildlife sightings or travel arrangements are promised.

## Maps and photographs

The retained original national feature is Natural Earth v5.1.2, 1:10m Admin 0
Countries, public domain:
https://raw.githubusercontent.com/nvkelso/natural-earth-vector/v5.1.2/geojson/ne_10m_admin_0_countries.geojson

`node scripts/build-timor-leste-map.mjs` rebuilds the outline, settlement GeoJSON,
atlas pack and name registry offline. Source coordinates are retained in
`scripts/timor-leste-map-places.json`. Pins are curated approximate settlement
centres, not municipal boundaries, legal surveys or a population ranking.
Pante Macassar and Vila Maumeta fall 0.512 km and 0.327 km outside the generalised
coast; the membership check allows a documented 1 km margin for these two only.
The other fourteen settlements pass strict land membership. Oecusse and Atauro
are included in the outline. Tiny Jaco is omitted by this generalised source;
its separately located sight pin is retained and the omission is explained on
the guide. Other sights pass a 1 km coastal tolerance, including Cristo Rei on
its narrow headland (0.849 km from the simplified coast). No settlement is moved
to fit the outline. Transliterations and accents vary between sources.

Ten existing local Timor-Leste photos in `src/lib/asian-facts-heroes.json` retain
their source pages, authors, licences and alt text. The food photo shows maize
preparation in Suai Loro. A separate local banner shows the Government Palace,
photographed by Bahnfrend on 21 August 2023, CC BY-SA 4.0. Its Commons file page
was checked for author and licence. The licence sidecar records the downloaded
1280px thumbnail; there are no further content edits. Display crops can vary.
All credits and public references are linked at
`/data/timor-leste-guide-sources.txt`.

## Quiz and verification

The eighty-question snapshot is copied exactly from the existing Timor-Leste
seed in `scripts/seed-sea-batch2.mjs`, without executing it. Twenty-one read-time
corrections remove misleading coastal, language-family, ancestry, coffee,
wildlife-ranking and food claims and distinguish the 2002 presidency. Stored
lesson IDs and learner progress are retained by the existing correction boundary.
Public numbered, topic and daily draws use the bundled snapshot, following the
existing Bahrain/Kuwait/Qatar paths. Guide posters can start a public facts round
when database lesson rows are unavailable. No database write, reseed or schema
migration is needed for this addition.

`node scripts/test-timor-leste-guide.cjs` checks runtime discovery, regional
adapter, all map targets and complete numbered rounds, geographic anchors,
coastline tolerance, previews, fourteen sights, eleven credited local photos,
thirty reading answers, seed parity, correction idempotence, quiz draw paths and
Portuguese lessons. `TIMOR_LESTE_BASE_URL` adds public routes, directory, sitemap,
country links, map data, photos and playable quiz API checks. TypeScript, targeted
lint, production build and browser checks cover integration and rendered play.

## Topic image credits

geography: Mount Tatamailau and the surrounding mountains in Timor-Leste
Colin Trainor, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:View_to_Mt_Tatamailau,_Ainaro_on_a_clear_day.jpg
/images/facts-asia/tl/geography.jpg

history: The Centro Nacional Chega museum at the former Comarca Prison in Dili, Timor-Leste
Bahnfrend, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Centro_Nacional_Chega!,_2023_(01).jpg
/images/facts-asia/tl/history.jpg

language: Portuguese lettering on the Court of Appeal sign in Dili, Timor-Leste
Bahnfrend, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tribunal_de_Recurso_de_Timor-Leste,_2023_(01).jpg
/images/facts-asia/tl/language.jpg

culture: Traditional tais weaving from Timor-Leste
Rahmaziz, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tais_weaving_from_Timor_Leste.jpg
/images/facts-asia/tl/culture.jpg

economy: Coffee workers in Timor-Leste
Tbwiki99, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:East_timor_coffee.jpg
/images/facts-asia/tl/economy.jpg

politics: The National Parliament building in Dili, Timor-Leste
Bahnfrend, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:National_Parliament_building,_Dili,_2023_(02).jpg
/images/facts-asia/tl/politics.jpg

nature: A diver beside a coral reef at Atauro Island, Timor-Leste
Andrepiazza, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:44-EastTimor-Dive_Atauro-Manta_Cove_03_(Diver)-APiazza.JPG
/images/facts-asia/tl/nature.jpg

food: Preparing maize in the traditional way at Suai Loro, Timor-Leste
David Palazón, Tatoli ba Kultura, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Crushing_corn_-_suai_loro.jpg
/images/facts-asia/tl/food.jpg

landmarks: The Cristo Rei statue overlooking Dili, Timor-Leste
Philip Nalangan, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Cristo_Rei_Dili_Timor_Leste.jpg
/images/facts-asia/tl/landmarks.jpg

people: A woman at a market in Dili, Timor-Leste
Graham Crumb, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dili_Market_Woman.jpg
/images/facts-asia/tl/people.jpg