In East Timor, transportation is reduced due to the nation's poverty, poor transportation infrastructure.
There are no railways in the country. The general condition of the roads is inadequate. The country has six airports, one of which has commercial and international flights.
East Timor has no railways. However, a master plan for a 500 km (310 mi) long electrified double-track railway was proposed in 2012, with a central line from Bobonaro to Lospalos, a western corridor from Dili to Betano and an eastern corridor from Baucau to Uatolari. [1] [2]
East Timor has a road network of 6,041 km (3,754 mi), of which about 2,600 km (1,600 mi) of roads are paved, and about 3,440 km (2,140 mi) are unpaved.
The road network is made up of national roads linking municipal capitals (~1,500 km (930 mi)), municipal roads linking municipal capitals to towns and villages (~870 km (540 mi)), urban roads within urban areas (~717 km (446 mi)) and rural roads within rural areas (~3,112 km (1,934 mi)). [3] In a 2015 survey reported by the World Bank, 57% of the rural roads were rated either bad or poor.
While under Portuguese rule, East Timor's road system, like the road network in all Portuguese colonies, adhered to right-hand drive. After the Indonesian takeover in 1975, the roads were made to switch to left-hand drive (like virtually all of present-day Indonesia). Upon independence in 2002 the left-hand traffic rule was retained.
East Timor has 20 arterial roads, designated as A-class roads (national roads), as follows: [4]
| No | From | To | Length (km) | Length (mi) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| A01 | Dili | Com, Lautém | 203.9 | 126.7 |
| A02<1 | Dili | Suai | 176.4 | 109.6 |
| A03 | Dili | Mota Ain | 118.2 | 73.4 |
| A03' | Batugade | Maliana | 42.4 | 26.3 |
| A04 | Tibar | Ermera | 46.8 | 29.1 |
| A05 | Aitotu | Betano | 55.6 | 34.5 |
| A06 | Baucau | Viqueque | 64.9 | 40.3 |
| A07 | Viqueque | Natarbora | 46.0 | 28.6 |
| A08 | Lautém | Viqueque | 121.7 | 75.6 |
| A09 | Manatuto | Natarbora | 79.5 | 49.4 |
| A10 | Ermera | Hauba | 66.9 | 41.6 |
| A11 | Maliana | Ermera | 64.7 | 40.2 |
| A12 | Zumalai | Maliana | 52.5 | 32.6 |
| A13 | Cassa | Aiassa | 25.1 | 15.6 |
| A14 | Betano | Natarbora | 47.7 | 29.6 |
| A15 | Suai | Uemassa | 27.5 | 17.1 |
| A16 | Uele'o | Tilomar | 33.4 | 20.8 |
| A17 | Pante Macassar | Oesilo | 25.3 | 15.7 |
| A18 | Pante Macassar | Citrana | 44.9 | 27.9 |
| A19 | Pante Macassar | Sacato | 14.8 | 9.2 |
| Total | 1,358.2 | 843.9 | ||
In October 2016, the East Timorese government symbolically launched a rehabilitation project for the Dili–Manatuto–Baucau national road. Construction was to be undertaken in two sections, Dili–Manatuto, and Manatuto–Baucau, in each case by a Chinese construction company. The project was financed by the General State Budget, and also from a loan fund from the Japanese government, through the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). It was due to be completed in mid-2019, [2] and the completed road was officially inaugurated on 26 August 2022. [5]
According to a road network connectivity quality assessment published in September 2019, the national road network already satisfactorily connected all national activity centres for all types of vehicles in circulation. However, some of the road segments needed to be improved, in terms of road width, drainage, geometric design and traffic facilities. [6]
Two road bridges over the Comoro River link central Dili with the west side of the city, including the Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport and the Tibar Bay port, which as at early 2022 was due to start operations later that year. The more important of these two bridges is the CPLP Bridge; its alternative, approximately 800 m (2,600 ft) to its south, is the Hinode Bridge. [7]
At the north eastern corner of central Dili, the B. J. Habibie Bridge spans the Claran River , and connects central Dili with the eastern waterfront of the Bay of Dili. [8]
This bridge, also known as the Tono Bridge, was inaugurated in 2017 as part of the ZEESM TL project in Oecusse.
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Ships by type
Routes
In July 2022, the President of Indonesia, Joko Widodo, urged the government of East Timor to open a shipping route between Kupang, Dili, and Darwin, to boost sea lane connectivity. [11]
As of 2019 [update] , East Timor had eight airports. The three major ones were the Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport in Dili, the Cakung or Baucau Airport in Baucau, and the Suai Airport in Suai. Only the first two of these were designed as international airports. [12]
The Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport in Dili is the main international airport. Commercial scheduled service is also provided at Suai Airport and Oecusse Airport. [13] Local airports include Baucau Airport and Viqueque Airport.
No airport in East Timor is officially available for night operations, but the government permits such operations in emergencies. [12]
8 (2012)
Dili is the capital and largest city of East Timor. It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in by mountains. The climate is tropical, with distinct wet and dry seasons. The city has served as the economic hub and chief port of what is now East Timor since its designation as the capital of Portuguese Timor in 1769. It also serves as the capital of the Dili Municipality, which includes some rural subdivisions in addition to the urban ones that make up the city itself. Dili's growing population is relatively youthful, being mostly of working age. The local language is Tetum; however, residents include many internal migrants from other areas of the country.
Baucau is a municipality, and was formerly a district, of East Timor, on the northern coast in the eastern part of the country. The capital is also called Baucau. The population of the municipality is 111,694 and it has an area of 1,506 km2.
East Timor was a province of Indonesia between 1976 and 1999, during the Indonesian occupation of the country. Its territory corresponded to the previous Portuguese Timor and to the present-day independent country of East Timor.
Manatuto is a city in Manatuto Municipality, East Timor.
Dili Airport, officially Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport, and formerly Comoro Airport, is an international airport serving Dili, the capital city of East Timor. Since 2002, the airport has been named after Nicolau dos Reis Lobato (1946–1978), an East Timorese politician and national hero.
Civil Aviation Timor-Leste is a government organization, part of the Department of Transport & Communications in the Ministry of Transport and Communications (MTC) to promote the safety, efficiency and regularity of aviation services in Timor Leste. The civil aviation division also has the responsibility for overall planning, implementation and operation of the aviation services in East Timor.
Rogério Tiago De Fatima Lobato is a Timorese politician who was the former minister of defence and minister of interior belonging to Fretilin who is now the current president of the Special Administrative Region of Oecusse. He was a founding member of the first independent government of East Timor, in 1975, led by Fretilin. He is also the brother of the late Nicolau Lobato, the second president of the country who was killed in action by the Indonesian Army in late 1978.
Baucau Airport, formerly Cakung Airport, is an unattended and mostly unused airport near Baucau, East Timor. It is the largest airport in East Timor and has a much longer runway than Dili's Presidente Nicolau Lobato International Airport, long enough to handle large commercial airliners.
Oecusse Airport, officially Oecusse Route of the Sandalwood International Airport, and formerly Palaban Airport, is an international airport serving Pante Macassar, the capital city of the Oecusse Special Administrative Region of East Timor.
The North Laclo River is the longest river in East Timor. It flows northeast into Wetar Strait, reaching the coast near the city of Manatuto. It has no connection to the South Laclo River, which flows into the Timor Sea.
The Comoro River is a river in East Timor. It flows north into Ombai Strait, reaching the coast in the north western suburbs of the capital, Dili. In its lower reaches, it is the main and largest of Dili's four major rivers.
Taça Digicel was a football championship organized by the East Timor Football Federation. It was replaced by Taça 12 de Novembro in 2013.
The Noefefan Bridge is a two-lane road bridge over the Tono River in the suco of Lifau, a village in Oecusse, the East Timorese exclave on the north western coast of Timor. As of 2017, when the bridge was inaugurated, it was the largest bridge ever built in East Timor. It connects several isolated communities west of the river with Pante Macassar to its east.
Transportes Aéreos de Timor or TAT was an airline of the then colony of Portuguese Timor, headquartered in Dili. It operated between 1939 and 1975.
The Hinode Bridge is a two-lane road bridge in the suco of Comoro, a western suburb of Dili, capital city of East Timor. It was built by a Japanese company, Tobishima Corporation, between 2016 and 2018, with grant aid funding from the Government of Japan.
The Port of Dili is a seaport in Dili, East Timor. Prior to 30 September 2022, it was the main and only international port of entry to East Timor. On that day, its container operations were transferred to the Tibar Bay Port. Since then, the Port of Dili's facilities have been open only to domestic passenger ships and cruise ships carrying international tourists.
The CPLP Bridge is a pair of two-lane road bridges in the suco of Comoro, a western suburb of Dili, capital city of East Timor.
The Bay of Dili is a bay on the north coast of East Timor adjacent to Dili, its capital city. The bay forms part of Ombai Strait, which separates the Alor Archipelago from the islands of Wetar, Atauro, and Timor in the Lesser Sunda Islands.
This article incorporates public domain material from The World Factbook. CIA. 
Media related to Transport in East Timor at Wikimedia Commons
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