History East Timor

 Historical dates

16th century:Portuguese set up their first trading posts.
1859: The Treaty of Lisbon grants the east of the island to Portugal and the west to Holland.
Second World War: Australians occupy the east, the Japanese invade the island. and thousands of people are killed for helping the Australians.
28 November 1975: The Fretilin, a marxist-inspired movement, proclaims the independence of East Timor.
7 December 1975: Indonesia invades the country.
July 1976: Jakarta annexes East Timor which becomes the 27th province of the country. The UN and Portugal do not acknowledge the annexation. Conflicts between the Fretilin armed group and the Indonesian army will last 24 years and Indonnesia reacts violently: 100 000 to 200 000 people are killed in 24 years, many dying of disease and malnutrition. Jakarta challenges these figures.
1991: The massacre of several thousands of people in Santa Cruz by the Indonesian army shakes the international community.
1992: Xanana Gusmao, leader of the guérilla, is jailed.
May 1998: The dictator Suharto is defeated and succeeded by Jusuf Habibie.
30 August 1999: During the referendum on autonomy, close to 80% vote for independence. This vote triggers the wrath of militias led by the Indonesian army hostile to the independence. One third of the population is forcefully taken to West Timor (Indonesian). Between 600 and 2,000 people are killed and part of the infrastructure destroyed. From then on, the territory is adminsitered by the UN, which has close to 8,000 peacekeepers.
April 2002 : The ex-rebal leader Xanana Gusmao (55 years) is triumphantly elected Prime Minister of the youngest State in the world.
September 2002: East Timor becomes the Democratic Republic of East Timor and the 191th member of the United Nations.