THE PORTUGUESE AND EAST TIMOR

Situated to the southeast of Indonesia, East Timor has an area of 14,610 square kilometers (9,000 miles) and a population of approximately 840,000.

Before Europeans encountered the island of Timor it had been populated by successive waves of Malay and Melanesian migrants, who settled with the original inhabitants, the Atoni people of the central highlands. This ethnic mix was compounded by the arrival of Chinese, Arab, and Gujerati traders, who visited Timor in search of its valuable sandalwood.

The Portuguese established a colonial administration in Timor in 1702, where they fought with the Dutch for control over the island for the next three centuries. The two halves of the island finally were separated in an agreement signed by the two colonial powers in 1913:

The Dutch took control of the west and the Portuguese took control of the east. The Japanese military occupied East Timor during World War II (1941–1945), and in these years 60,000 (13% of the population) died.

In 1949 West Timor became part of the Indonesian Republic. Portugal retained East Timor. On April 25, 1974, the Portuguese Armed Forces Movement overthrew the Caetano regime and began a process of decolonization in Portugal’s African and Asian colonies.

Faced with the possibility of an independent East Timor, the Indonesian Armed Forces invaded. The Indonesian occupation lasted from 1975 to 1999, during which approximately 200,000 of a preinvasion population of 650,000 died at the hands of Indonesian troops or as a result of starvation after forced displacement. In August 1999, following a referendum overseen by the United Nations (UN), the East Timorese voted overwhelmingly

for independence. The Indonesian army then sponsored paramilitary groups to terrorize the population.

Following international intervention to halt the carnage, Indonesian forces withdrew. After a transitional period overseen by the UN, East Timor became independent

on March 20, 2002.

As of the early twenty-first century, the territory remained poor with 41 percent of its population living in poverty, although access to offshore oil and gas, combined with a development strategy based on agriculture,

coffee exports, small-scale industry and tourism, gave potential for development.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dunn, James. East Timor: A People Betrayed. Sydney: ABC

Books, 1996.

Taylor, John G. East Timor: The Price of Freedom. Australia:

Pluto Press, 1999.