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Administrative divisions of East Timor

Last modified: 2003-01-25 by antonio martins
Keywords: colonial flag | weaving |
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Traditional weavings on the parliament wall

On the right and the left wall of the East Timor national parliament are hanging traditional weavings, each with the name of one of the districts. Each district has such a weaving on the left and the right, but there are not exactly the same, just similar. So, not regional flags, but examples of traditional designs of each district?...
J. Patrick Fischer, 08 Aug 2002

Districts

The current districts (distritos) are the same units as the portuguese era municipalities (municípios or concelhos), both in name and territorial make up:

António Martins, Jul 2002

I dont know wheather these remained operational and/or official in 1975-2000, nor, if so, under which name (districts or municipalities).
António Martins, 22 Jul 2001

Planned administrative divisions

I just heard it in the radio: the CNRT, meeting in Darwin, Australia, issued a first draft of the future administrative division of the future independent republic of Timor Lorosae. The 13 municipalities [districts] are maintained in principle, but the territory will be divided into 3 provinces (handled by the CNRT as economical planning regions), a northern province including Díli but excluding Atauro and Ocussi Ambeno, a Eastern province including Baucau and the eastern half of the territory and a southern province including the southern coast. The provinces would include:

Atauro and Ocussi Ambeno will be, according to this plan, autonomous regions.

So, in the future Republic of East Timor, if this plan is implemented, the following flags are to be expected:

  • a national flag, naturally
  • 13 municipal flags, perhaps 12 if the municipality of Ocussi disappears (the territory coincides with that of the planned autonomous region)
  • 2 flags of autonomous regions (finally we’ll probably have a real flag for Ocussi Ambeno ;-)
  • possibly 3 provincial flags.
Díli would remain as a provincial capital only, being the national capital city placed in a town on the hills, in a location more central, geographically. This would probably mean a reorganization to some extent, if not immediately, then soon enouth (capitals tend to grow quickly and require smaller administrative divisions for the administration to be effective).
Jorge Candeias, 22 Oct 1999 and 27 Oct 1999

I’ll not be surprised if both municipalities and communes are to be changed in near future. I guess the flags from the portuguese era (unused in the last 25 years) will not be revived.
António Martins, 23 Oct 1999

Well, they might. The majority of the timorese are in a state of nostalgia for everything portuguese so they just might dig up the old municipal flags, at least to serve as basis for new ones. Anyway, the CNRT proposed to the UN the organization of local elections within one year, so these flags would possibly be used only after that. But everything is highly speculative here.
Jorge Candeias, 27 Oct 1999

The “four parts” of the territory

The four parts [symbolized on the U.D.T. flag] of the territory are:

  1. The NE "half" of the Timor Island,
  2. the enclave of Oekusi in the N coast of the W "half",
  3. the island of Ataúro (or Kambing), 30 km N off Dili, and
  4. the islet of Jako, 1 km off the easternmost tip of Timor.
These four parts are noted not for its cultural importance of course (being the last two really small and unimportant, especially Jako, wich I believe to be unhabited), but as an assertion of the Timor territorial integrity, as settled between Portugal and the Netherlands in 1 October 1904 and 25 June 1914.
António Martins, 16 Sep 1997

As far as I know, the indonesian occupation didn’t change the limits of the territory (one migh ask why...), all those three territories [Jaco, Ocussi-Ambeno and Ataúro] being considered by the indonesian government as parts of “their” 27th province Timor Timur. This border line, by the way, was settled between Portugal and the Netherlands very early in the 20th cent., if I recall correctely by swapping the vassaldom of several native kingdoms along the border area, previously the territorial claims were a mess of enclaves and exclaves.

It migh be of interest to say that Oecussi-Ambeno (a coastal enclave to the SW) is one of the 13 districts, Ataúro/Kambing (an island some 20 km north of Dili) is/was one of the communes of the Dili district, and Jaco (a very small islet, probably uninhabited) is/was a part of the Lautém district, Tutuala commune.

António Martins, 22 Aug 1999