Living in East Timor

East Timor is a small economy with few ways in for an outsider, and the language is part of why. English reaches only a narrow slice of the working world, and most jobs are done in the local tongue. Pay is among the world's lowest, yet tax takes next to nothing and life is inexpensive, so a modest salary covers the basics with a little, if not much, to spare. Getting established here depends heavily on whatever foothold you can find.

Timor-Leste's diaspora is closely tied to its giant neighbor: of about 109.6K people living abroad, roughly 95.6K are in Indonesia, dwarfing Australia and Portugal. That diaspora far outnumbers the small foreign-born population at home, and it has grown 69% over the past decade.