E. Timor growing like topsy

E. Timor growing like topsy

AUSTRALIA: East Timor is tipped to have one million people by
next year, news reports from the capital Dili said on Wednesday.

A soaring birth rate and return of those that fled the strife
that followed its declaration of independence from Indonesia in
1999 are the reasons given for a 17.5 percent increase in
population over the last three years to 925,000.

Australia's ABC Radio reported that the first national census
revealed one of the highest birth rates in the world.

Census takers said the former Portuguese colony had lost its
Indonesian-run family planning services since it gained
independence and this was reflected in a galloping fertility
rate.

They say higher population growth in areas bordering West
Timor, which is part of Indonesia, confirm that many of the tens
of thousands of refugees forced out of the country in 1999 have
returned home.

In a world first, census workers used satellite technology to
record the location of every household in the country. --DPA