East Timor is located on the small island of Timor (slightly smaller than Maryland). This land is situated between Indonesia and Australia. The other half of the island is Indonesia's province of West Timor. This small territory of East Timor is currently under a U.N. transitional government with total sovereignty scheduled for 2002-2003.
The past of East Timor has been littered with Imperialism. Starting mid 1500's when Portugal "colonized" the territory through Japanese occupation during WWII, and again a return to Portuguese rule. Then in the wake of Portuguese de-colonization and civil war, a brutal military occupation by its new neighbor Indonesia.
In 1509 the Portuguese arrived in the area of East Timor. They established their first settlements there in 1633. During the time before 1859 these two colonial powers signed a treaty establishing a boundary that divided Timor into the Dutch controlled west and the Portuguese controlled east. During Portuguese control many members of the native population where enslaved. In 1910 a rebellion of native peoples was suppressed after
In a May 5, 1999 agreement, Indonesia allowed the U.N. to enter East Timor and conduct a vote of self-determination. The voter registration process was constantly threatened by pro Indonesian militias, which attacked voters and U.N. workers. The vote was held on august 30th of 1999 and with 95% of registered voters voting the message was clear. 78.5% of those voting voted for Independence. During the time period following the results of the voting extreme violence broke out and many cities and villages where burnt to the ground. The U.N. unable to deal with the violence evacuated East Timor. On September 15th the U.N. Security council voted for an international force to enter East Timor restore order and install a transitional government. Finally on October 19,1999 Indonesia formally recognized the results of the vote and the U.N. began it's mission of ensuring a smooth transfer of power in this new nation state.
After Japanese forces withdrew at the end of the war, rebellion broke out in Indonesia and in east Timor. Indonesia's revolt against the Dutch was extremely successful end
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