The island of timor is currently divided in two parts. East timor simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. I no longer want anything to do with the cambodians, they chased me from my country. Prior to colonisation, timor was divided into dozens of small kingdoms ruled by traditional kings called liuri. During the 25 years of indonesian rule, armed and peaceful east timorese groups struggled to overthrow the occupier. Between early january and late october at least 1,200 civilians, and perhaps as many as 1,500, were killed. East timor history and culture save prior to the colonization of east timor by the portuguese and dutch in the second half of the 18th century, the island was a trading hub for chinese and indians dealing slaves, wax, honey, and sandalwood. Agriculture absorbed at least 80% of the labour force but remained largely at subsistence level and accounted for just 33% of gdp in 1962. As in many countries with a colonial past or experience with illegal occupation, east timor has a history of land disputes that have sometimes manifested into political violence and 5. The dynamics of violence in east timor, 1999 geoffrey robinson department of history, ucla in the course of 1999, east timor was the scene of terrible political violence. It occupies the eastern half of the island of timor, the small nearby islands of atauro and jaco, and the enclave of ambeno.
East timor has been buffeted for decades by the winds of world power politics. The country comprises the eastern half of the island of timor and the nearby islands of atauro and jaco. It lies northwest of australia in the lesser sunda islands at the eastern end of the indonesian archipelago. In png they are much better represented in the bismarck archipelago and other islands than on the new guinea mainland, where they are scattered around the coast, particularly. East timor is after all the youngest, and perhaps least known, nation of southeast asia.
The first inhabitants are thought to be descendant of australoid and melanesian peoples. Timorleste includes the eastern half of the island of timor, the oecussi ambeno region on the northwest. The united nations mission in east timor unamet, june october 1999 was mandated to organize and conduct a popular consultation to ascertain whether the east timorese people accepted a special autonomy within indonesia or rejected the proposed special autonomy, leading to east timors separation from indonesia. Genocide in cambodia and east timor 5 cccc ambodia i dont want to talk, its too late. The united nations mission in east timor unamet, june october 1999 was mandated to organize and conduct a popular consultation to ascertain whether the east timorese people accepted a special autonomy within indonesia or rejected the proposed special autonomy, leading to. Statistics essays on modern indonesian history, ed. A strange quirk of history also created the enclave of oecussi as portuguese territory surrounded on three sides by dutch west timor and bordered on the north by the sea. The day after kissinger left djakarta in 1975, the armed forces of indonesia employed american weapons to invade and subjugate the independent former portuguese colony of east timor. A historical encyclopedia, from angkor wat to east timor is the premier and authoritative reference work covering the history of the region, which consists of myanmar formerly burma, thailand, laos, cambodia, vietnam, malaysia, singapore, brunei, indonesia, the. The dawan or atoni, who might have been the earliest settlers of the islands. Political dynamics, development, and international involvement congressional research service summary the situation in the democratic republic of timorleste, which is also known as simply timorleste or east timor, is relatively calm compared with recent periods of. The provided pdf files are photographic images of the original materials and do not contain searchable text. Accao civilisadora e colonisadora, documents public works projects.
Sacred places in local cosmology are linked to associations with founding ancestors, the creator god, and may include. East timor is a country in southeast asia, officially known as democratic republic of timor leste. This chapter examines visions of timorlestes future that emerged following three critical junctures in the territorys modern history the. The conflict in east timor 4 if the east timor would fall under a leftist or communist influence the balance of power would be in imbalance suggesting that soviet capabilities are greater than the capabilities of the united states. Shortly after obtaining independence from portugal in 1974, east timor or timorleste was invaded by indonesians who. Of course there were many incidents that accompanied east timor while still joining indonesia, including various means against the indonesian military, to. East timor, island country in the eastern lesser sunda islands, at the southern extreme of the malay archipelago.
The democratic republic of timorleste, commonly known as east timor tetum. East timor has improving steadily trade balance, reflecting the. These same parties would later take part in the election of east timors constituent assembly in 2001. The portuguese began to trade with timor by the early. Such veneration even extended to ancient portuguese letters and documents. Isaacson gives a figure of 100,000 deaths resulting from the occupation, or oneseventh of the population, and there are good judges who put this.
East timor owes its territorial distinctiveness from the rest of timor, and the indonesian archipelago as a whole, to being colonised by the portuguese, rather than the dutch. East timors constitutional passage to independence copyright. It consists of the eastern half of the island of timor in the indonesian archipelago, a small area on the northwest coast called oecusse and two small islands, atauro and jaco. Media in category indonesian occupation of east timor the following 27 files are in this category, out of 27 total. Institutionalising community policing in timorleste police development in asias youngest country todd wassel community policing in timorleste has developed from a combination of donor advocacy, existing customary practices and support within the pntl. Search the history of over 431 billion web pages on the internet. It was where i was to be working for 3 months as a livelihoods researcher and trainer with oxfam. The november 12 massacre and its aftermath, news from asia watch, vol. Documents reveal fordkissinger green light in 1975 natl security archive. Jun 19, 2017 of course there were many incidents that accompanied east timor while still joining indonesia, including various means against the indonesian military, to a referendum that resulted in independence. It has been a longterm evolution that has only recently taken formal shape. History of agriculture in papua new guinea over a very large area in the pacific, indonesia, parts of mainland southeast asia, and madagascar in the western indian ocean.
Institutionalising community policing in timorleste. Political dynamics, development, and international involvement congressional research service summary the democratic republic of timorleste gained independence on may 20, 2002, after a long history of portuguese colonialism and, more recently, indonesian rule. A brief history of timor knowledge of the ancient indigenous history of the island of timor is limited. For a long time, portugal controlled the east timor and called it the colony of portuguese timor. From the 16th century onwards, east timor was a portuguese colony known as portuguese timor. The president is directly elected to this largely ceremonial post. War, genocide, and resistance in east timor, 19751999 201 03263 ch 09 71503 10. Another notable aspect of the files is that some are quite large. The ffdtl was established in february 2001 and comprised two small infantry battalions, a small naval component, and several supporting units. Indonesias invasion, the attention given to east timor dwindled over the years, confined. Media in category history of east timor the following 9 files are in this category, out of 9 total. East timor is a parliamentary democracy, in which the president is head of state and the prime minister is head of government. History of agriculture in papua new guinea over a very large area in the pacific, indonesia, parts of mainland south east asia, and madagascar in the western indian ocean.
But i will never forgive the journalists and the westerners. Pdf east timor celebrated its independence in 2002, but behind the. Annex a brief history of east timor welcome to valdosta. History of east timor lonely planet travel information. In july 2003, east timor and australia extended preferential duty free access and quotafree access between the two regions.
In 1975, the portuguese army left, and east timor was invaded taken over by the indonesian army in 1975. Etan east timor and indonesia on the world wide web. Colonial history makes copious mention of animism in east timor and a variety of practices were attributed to this belief system, such as those beliefs surrounding the concept of lulik sacred places, objects, and persons. On the portuguese side, after more attacks from the topasses in lifau, the colonial base was moved east to dili in 1769. The rest of the island of timor, and the other islands that were later to become indonesia, were colonised by the dutch between the 17th and 19th centuries, and were known as the dutch east indies. These materials include well over 100 files relating to east timor from. This item takes several minutes to download from the portugalbased server. Political dynamics, development, and international involvement congressional research service summary the situation in the democratic republic of timorleste, which is also known as simply timorleste or east timor, is relatively calm compared with recent periods of political strife and insurrection. Conflict profile east timor indonesia 1975 1999 shortly after obtaining independence from portugal in 1974, east timor or timorleste was invaded by indonesians who occupied the country until 1999.
By 1749 the topasses controlled central timor and marched on kupang, but the dutch won the ensuing battle, expanding their control of western timor in the process. Certain sections of the course are influenced by these research interests and thus include original field data. Indonesian documents leaked to the media as well as united nation. An overview the four major phases of timorlestes history have. Sep 29, 2015 a strange quirk of history also created the enclave of oecussi as portuguese territory surrounded on three sides by dutch west timor and bordered on the north by the sea. National democratic institutes timor loro sae is our nation. Two days later, the udtapodeti coalition declared independence and integration with indonesia. A brief history of east timor valdosta state university. In 2006, the office of the serious crimes unit of the united nations mission of assistance to east timor was looted, and its paper files and electronic records were stolen and destroyed. When the first traders and missionaries reached the coast of timor in 1515, the island was. The existing historical research justifies including genocide within the juris diction of a. The main exports were coffee, with 73% of the total, followed by.