Timor

Timor [Malay,=east], island (1990 est. pop. 3,900,000), c.13,200 sq mi/34,200 sq km, largest and easternmost of the Lesser Sundas, in the Malay Archipelago. Timor is divided politically between Indonesia and East Timor (Timor-Leste). The island is long, narrow, and almost wholly mountainous. Rice, coconuts, and coffee are grown, and stretches of grassland support cattle. There are oil and gas fields off East Timor's southern coast. The inhabitants are of predominantly Malay and Papuan descent.

The Portuguese were the first Europeans to establish themselves in Timor; their claim to the island was disputed by the Dutch, who arrived in 1613. By a treaty of 1859, modified in 1893 and finally made effective in 1914, the border between the Dutch and Portuguese territories was settled. In World War II, Timor was occupied (early 1942) by the Japanese. With the creation of the Republic of Indonesia in 1950, Dutch Timor became Indonesian territory and is now part of Nusa Tenggara Timur province.

In 1975, Portuguese Timor declared itself independent as East Timor . Indonesia invaded, however, and annexed the region. Sporadic guerrilla warfare continued into 1999, when Indonesia agreed to permit a referendum in which voters chose independence. Pro-Indonesian militias and the army subsequently engaged in a campaign of terror and brutality, but under international pressure Indonesia asked for UN peacekeepers, and, following a period of transitional UN administration, East Timor became independent in 2002.

Timor The largest of the Lesser Sunda Islands in the southern Malay Archipelago. The island was formerly divided into Dutch West Timor and Portuguese East Timor. In 1950 West Timor was absorbed into the newly formed Republic of Indonesia, becoming part of the province of Nusa Tenggara Timur. In 1975 East Timor briefly declared itself independent from Portugal but was invaded and occupied by Indonesia. In 1976, against the wishes of the inhabitants, Indonesia formally annexed East Timor and administered it as the province of Timur Timur or Loro Sae. The independence movement was violently suppressed. A referendum, supervised by the UN, in 1999 overwhelmingly supported independence from Indonesia. However, a pro-Indonesian militia murdered many of those who voted for independence and devastated the capital, Dili. Thousands of people fled or went into hiding and a UN peacekeeping force was sent in.