East Timor Timeline of Events

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East Timor

The Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, commonly known as East Timor , is a state in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the nearby islands of Atauro and Jaco, and Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island, within Indonesian West Timor...

Timeline of Events

1975

8.11.1975

East Timor: Governor Mário Lemos Pires of Portuguese Timor abandons the capital Dili, following a coup by the Timorese Democratic Union (UDT) and the outbreak of civil war between UDT and Fretilin.

10.16.1975

The Balibo Five, a group of Australian television journalists based in the town of Balibo in the then Portuguese Timor (now East Timor), are killed by Indonesian troops.

11.28.1975

East Timor declares its independence from Portugal.

12.7.1975

Indonesia invades East Timor.

1976

7.17.1976

History of East Timor: East Timor is annexed, and becomes the 27th province of Indonesia.

1991

11.12.1991

Dili Massacre, Indonesian forces open fire on a crowd of student protesters in Dili, East Timor.

1999

9.12.1999

Indonesia announces it will allow international peace-keepers into East Timor.

2002

5.20.2002

The independence of East Timor is recognized by Portugal, formally ending 23 years of Indonesian rule and 3 years of provisional UN administration (Portugal itself is the former colonizer of East Timor until 1976).

9.27.2002

Timor-Leste (East Timor) joins the United Nations.