ortugal ceded the western portion of the island. Imperial Japan
occupied Portuguese Timor from 1942 to 1945, but Portugal resumed
colonial authority after the Japanese defeat in World War II. East
Timor declared itself independent from Portugal on 28 November 1975
and was invaded and occupied by Indonesian forces nine days later.
It was incorporated into Indonesia in July 1976 as the province of
Timor Timur (East Timor). An unsuccessful campaign of pacification
followed over the next two decades, during which an estimated
100,000 to 250,000 individuals lost their lives. On 30 August 1999,
in a UN-supervised popular referendum, an overwhelming majority of
the people of Timor-Leste voted for independence from Indonesia.
Between the referendum and the arrival of a multinational
peacekeeping force in late September 1999, anti-independence
Timorese militias - organized and supported by the Indonesian
military - commenced a large-scale, scorched-earth campaign of
retribution. The militias killed approximately 1,400 Timorese and
forcibly pushed 300,000 people into western Timor as refugees. The
majority of the country's infrastructure, including homes,
irrigation systems, water supply systems, and schools, and nearly
100% of the country's electrical grid were destroyed. On 20
September 1999 the Australian-led peacekeeping troops of the
International Force for East Timor (INTERFET) deployed to the
country and brought the violence to an end. On 20 May 2002,
Timor-Leste was internationally recognized as an independent state.
In late April 2006, internal tensions threatened the new nation's
security when a military strike led to violence and a near breakdown
of law and order in Dili. At the request of the Government of
Timor-Leste, an Australian-led International Stabilization Force
(ISF) deployed to Timor-Leste in late May. In August, the UN
Security Council established the UN Integrated Mission in
Timor-Leste (UNMIT), which included an authorized police presence of
over 1,600 personnel. In subsequent months, many of the ISF soldiers
were replaced by UN police officers; approximately 80 ISF officers
remained as of January 2008. From April to June 2007, the Government
of Timor-Leste held presidential and parliamentary elections in a
largely peaceful atmosphere with the support and assistance of UNMIT
and international donors.

Geography
Timor-Leste

Location:

Southeastern Asia, northwest of Australia in the Lesser Sun