Which is the least developed country in Asia?
The United Nations Committee for Development Policy has developed a criterion that defines what constitutes a "least developed country" – no more than 75 million people, a lack of human resources, a fragile economy, and a per capita national income of less than $1,035.
In Asia, nine countries meet the above criteria, including Myanmar, Laos, Cambodia, Timor-Leste, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Nepal, and Yemen.
It is difficult to select the poorest of the above nine, but the country with the highest current voice is Timor-Leste.
History of Timor-Leste
Timor-Leste has a rather tragic past, and looking at centuries of history, this small country of only 10,000 square kilometers seems to have been facing various invaders.
Before the sixteenth century, East Timor was overwhelmed by the invasion of two small nearby states, namely the kingdom of Srivijaya, centered on Sumatra, and the kingdom of Majobache, centered on Java.
Beginning in the sixteenth century, the island where East Timor is located welcomed a new "guest"—Portugal, one of the two teeth that took the lead in setting sail in the Age of Discovery. In 1520, the Portuguese officially invaded the island of Timor, and in 1613, the Dutch followed Portugal into the island of Timor. Armed conflict broke out between the two sides, but in the end they were unable to completely expel the other from the island, so they made peace and formally divided the island in 1859.
European colonists of the Age of Discovery
Portugal occupied the eastern side of timor island and the Dutch occupied the western side. This situation was held very firmly for four centuries, during which Portugal firmly occupied the eastern part of the island of Timor, while the Netherlands controlled the western part of the island while controlling the vast Indonesian archipelago.
That is where both East Timor and Indonesia come from.
Subsequently, the outbreak of World War II, Japan invaded Southeast Asia, indonesia and East Timor fell into the hands of the Japanese army. During the Japanese occupation, the national consciousness of East Timor and Indonesia gradually awakened, and after the defeat of Japan, although the Netherlands and Portugal tried to regain control of the two places, the local people resolutely refused to return to the colonial era.
In this context, Indonesia took the lead in independence after an armed struggle, a full thirty years before East Timor. Thirty years later, east Timor, which has just become independent, faces its already "well-developed" neighbours, and the results are predictable.
At the same time as the Portuguese forces withdrew, Indonesia invaded the former brothers and sisters with armed forces, and the reason he gave was "East Timor asked for help". In fact, this is not necessarily a false statement, at that time, East Timor happened to be divided into three branches: "independence faction", "pro-Portuguese faction" and "pro-Indonesian faction", and the differences between the three sides were so great that they even met each other and set off a civil war.
Timor-Leste shares the same island as Indonesia, but relations are rather frosty
Indonesia then occupied East Timor for twenty-seven years, but East Timor remained reluctant to give in. Although East Timor and West Timor were originally the same people and the same region, the centuries-long rule of Portugal and the Netherlands has divided the two places, and the gradual Portuguese East Timor has become less and less aware of Indonesia with the passage of time, and East Timor has long ceased to consider itself and Indonesia as a "family".
Indonesia's actions were brutal in the war between Indonesia and East Timor, with east Timor's population plummeting by a quarter as a result of the war, with most of them dying of hunger and disease. The blood of the East Timorese flowed into the land, among the roof tiles, under the trees and in front of the churches, but never gave in.
In 1997, a financial storm swept through Indonesia, and the United Nations put pressure on Indonesia. Indonesia, under pressure from all sides, has offered An autonomy package for East Timor. But East Timor refused to compromise with Indonesia, so a referendum was held under the auspices of the United Nations, and nearly 80% of the electorate supported East Timor's independence.
East Timor eventually won its freedom and broke away from Indonesian rule
In 2002, East Timor finally declared its independence, becoming the youngest country in Asia.
What was it like to live in East Timor?
Due to the short date of establishment and the extremely backward economy, the life of the people of Timor-Leste is somewhat difficult.
East Timor has been colonized by Portugal for hundreds of years, and this experience has brought a very intuitive "heritage" to East Timor - the local race is not traditionalLy Asian, some people have a Europa flavor, and if you walk around the local streets, you can often see street boys who resemble "C Luo". Due to latitude issues, the locals generally look darker or reddish brown, covered in wind and dust.
Of course, there are also many Chinese making a living here, and the Chinese account for two percent of the total population of East Timor, so occasionally you can see a familiar face from your hometown in East Timor. Before discussing local customs, the first question before you is how to get to East Timor?
Currently, the easier way to travel to East Timor is to fly directly from within The country to Bali and then fly from Bali to Dili, the capital of Timor-Leste. When you return from Dili, you will intuitively feel why Timor-Leste is listed as one of the "least developed countries" – the boarding pass at Dili Airport is even handwritten.
The face of street society in Timor-Leste
In Dili, the capital of East Timor, where the precious prosperity of East Timor is concentrated, this small city is only 372 square kilometers, and you may have no idea about this number. Let me tell you another data, the area of Chaoyang District in Beijing is 470 square kilometers, which is 98 square kilometers larger than Dili.
Walking out from the bustling center of Dili, it only takes an hour to read the bustling city, and then everything you see is deserted. The street that leads from the airport to the city center is one of the few bustling areas in Dili, with Chinese-run shopping malls, a Middle Eastern Catholic Church, and an image of Jesus Christ.
In Dili, it is difficult to see the scene of traffic, the rare cars are running by, there are many used cars that look like they are on the verge of scrapping, most of them are sturdy and durable off-road vehicles.
There are small buses in the area that resemble buses, but this bus and our bus are not a thing at all. It is not a bus-style stop-and-go, but a stop-and-go bus after it has picked up enough passengers. Occasionally, when there is a full population, there will be the wonder of an Indian-style ride – some passengers who fail to board the bus are suspended outside the car, which looks very scary.
On the streets of Dili, there are almost no high-rise buildings, but only small buildings that are one or two stories high. Walking down the street, you can see many old houses with a Portuguese flavor. Regarding the local language, some sources will write that the official local languages are Tetum and Portuguese, but the working languages are Indonesian and English.
The statue of Jesus built in East Timor
In fact, the situation is like this, the so-called Tetum language, that is, a mixture of the local dialect and Portuguese, and also mixed with a part of the Chinese Hakka dialect, which is the language used by most of the local people. Foreign-related government agencies and other agencies, such as inspections when entering and leaving customs, use English.
Timor-Leste relied heavily on imports, so Timor-Leste abolished its banknotes and traded directly in United States dollars. The reason is simple: As a small country with initial development, Timor-Leste simply does not have outstanding financial management talents, and the country's financial management capacity is also very poor. If you issue your own paper money, it is likely to lead to a crisis such as inflation.
This is really no joke, Indonesia has been in trouble, so East Timor simply does not issue paper money, but uses small silver coins and dollars. Timor-Leste's economy is not developed, which can be intuitively reflected in the daily life of grocery shopping.
To buy vegetables in East Timor, it is best to go to the streets to find farmers who come out to sell seasonal vegetables, and of course, you can also go to the vegetable market. However, the vegetables in the vegetable market are actually purchased from farmers, and for reasons of freshness and price, locals still prefer to buy vegetables directly from small vendors.
Tourism resources are not yet fully utilized, but many organizations believe that it has great potential
Unfortunately, East Timor, which is surrounded by the sea on three sides, is not developed in fishing, there is no large-scale salvage, only fishermen catch some fish in the coastal waters in small boats, and then sell them on the streets with flat shoulders like hawkers.
When writing this article, it was found that there was a "patriotic marketing number" on Douyin, saying that East Timor is a small and pro-small country that is more iron than Pakistan Railway. This is not the case, and the locals do not see Chinese as enemies, but also as relatives. Many locals feel that Chinese have robbed them of their jobs, thus harboring a slight sense of disgust.