East Timor is Southeast Asia's newest independent country of approximately 925,000 inhabitants. Situated on the eastern half of the Timor Island, and also including a small enclave on the western side, it consists of flat coastal areas separated by a rugged mountain range and features distinct tropical dry and rainy seasons. The population of East Timor is made up of a dozen separate indigenous groups that share a common experience of colonialism under Portugal and Indonesia. As a result, Tetum (the language spoken in the capital, Díli), Portuguese, and Indonesian vie for prominence as the language of school and government—the first two are official languages.

East Timor's most valuable and only exportable crop lies in the extensive plantations of Arabica coffee in the mountainous interior. Oil and gas reserves, in abundance in the Timor Sea, are still untapped pending negotiations with neighboring Australia and individual...