East Timor: From Portuguese Colony to Independent State

East Timor, a Portuguese colony on half of the island of Timor, was swept up in the collapse of Portugal's empire after the 1974 Carnation Revolution. Local parties formed, and after a brief civil conflict the left-leaning Fretilin declared independence on 28 November 1975. Nine days later, on 7 December, Indonesia invaded, with the tacit acceptance of Western governments worried about a leftist state in the region, and annexed the territory in 1976. The UN never recognized the annexation.

Occupation, conflict and famine caused very heavy loss of life; a later truth commission estimated at least 100,000 conflict-related deaths. International attention grew after Indonesian troops fired on mourners at the Santa Cruz cemetery in Dili in 1991. After political change in Indonesia, a UN-run referendum in 1999 produced a 78. 5 percent vote for independence, followed by militia violence and an international peacekeeping force. East Timor became independent in 2002.