East Timor travel

Population : 1,115,000
Area : 18,900 km²
Capital : Dili
Languages : Tetum and Portuguese
Currency : U.S. Dollar

East Timor is a country in Southeast Asia. It lies northwest of Australia in the Lesser Sunda Islands at the eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago. East Timor includes the eastern half of the island of Timor, the Oecussi (Ambeno) region on the northwest portion of the island of Timor, and the small islands of Pulau Atauro and Pulau Jaco.

The half island of East Timor is a former Portuguese colony that declared itself independent from Portugal on 28 November 1975. Nine days later, Indonesian forces invaded and occupied the former colony, without incurring the disapproval of the United States or Australia. By July 1976 the colony had been annexed as the province of Timor Timur.

Over the next two decades, Indonesia integrated the colony, with many significant positions of authority being occupied by Indonesians, rather than the Timorese. An estimated 100,000 to 250,000 individuals are believed to have lost their lives during a campaign of pacification during this time.

The United Nations supervised a popular referendum on 30 August 1999, in which the people of East Timor voted for independence from Indonesia. After the results were announced, gangs of independence opponents, supported by the Indonesian military, terrorised the population in a civil war that destroyed much of the country's infrastructure. A United Nations peacekeeping force, led by Australian forces was sent in to re-establish a civil society and reconstruct the nation.

On 20 May 2002, East Timor was internationally recognized as an independent state and the world's newest democracy under the official name of the Democratic Republic of Timor Leste.