Islam by country · Asia
Islam in Timor-Leste (East Timor): history and Muslim population data
Explore CoMPS research on the historical journey of Islam in Timor-Leste (East Timor), alongside population data and an interactive timeline.
Open Timor-Leste (East Timor) in the interactive map
History of Islam in Timor-Leste (East Timor)
The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste was occupied by the Portuguese in 1769, and then annexed by Indonesia in 1975, until itgained its independence in 2002. It has a total area of 14,874 sq km andconsists of the eastern half of the Island of Timor which it shares withIndonesia, and the Islands of Atauro (105 sq km) and Jaco (10 sq km).
Islam entered here through current Indonesia. Estimates of theMuslim population were none in 1896 and 1930. Census data show thatthe number of Muslims changed from 900 or 0.15% in 1970, to 2,800 or0.5% in 1980, to 39,600 or 5.3% due to the Indonesian annexation. Thenumber decreased to 3,000 or 0.3% in 2004 as a result of the violencebetween Muslims and Christians and the subsequent independence. TheMuslim population then increased to 3,600 or 0.3% in 2010 but decreasedto 2,800 or 0.2% in 2015. Most of the Muslim population (61%) lives inthe capital Dili. Thus, assuming that the percentage of the Muslimpopulation will increase by 0.02 of a percentage point per decade; thenthe Muslim population is expected to reach 8,000 or 0.4% by 2050 and9,000 or 0.5% by 2100.
Historical Muslim population dataset for Timor-Leste (East Timor)
The figures below are from the CoMPS historical dataset. Population values are expressed in thousands; 2100 is a modelled projection, not a present-day count.
| Year | Total population (thousands) | Muslim population (thousands) | Muslim share |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1900 | 164.7 | 0.000 | 0.00% |
| 2000 | 871.9 | 2.79 | 0.32% |
| 2100 | 1,810 | 9.41 | 0.52% |
For the full time series and visualisation, use the interactive map above.