y. Skirmishing with the
Dutch in the region eventually resulted in an 1859 treaty in which
Portugal ceded the western portion of the island. Imperial Japan
occupied East 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 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 East
Timor 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
West 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, East Timor was internationally recognized as an
independent state. In March of 2006, a military strike led to
violence and a near breakdown of law and order. Over 2,000
Australian, New Zealand, and Portuguese police and peacekeepers
deployed to East Timor in late May. Although many of the
peacekeepers were replaced by UN police officers, 850 Australian
soldiers remained as of 1 January 2007.

Geography East Timor

Location:
Southeastern Asia, northwest of Australia in the Lesser Sunda
Islands at the eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago; note -
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 islands of Pulau Atauro and Pulau Jaco

Geographic coordinates:
8 50 S, 125 55 E

Map references:
Southeast Asia

Area:
total: 15,00