Vigorously bucking the global trend is the small Pacific island of Timor Leste. At 7.8 children per woman, Asia’s newest nation has the world’s highest fertility rate. Some locals blame the island’s coffee, which they liken to viagra. But there are other reasons why the Timorese are having babies like there’s no tomorrow.
Up until 1999 the country was brutally occupied by Indonesia, which forced family planning upon the people. Some 102,000 Timorese lost their lives due to conflict during occupation and many went into exile, leaving behind the poorest and least educated.
