The
World's Airlines.
East Timor,
also known as Timor-Leste
(officially the Democratic
Republic of Timor-Leste) is a
country in Southeast Asia. It
comprises the eastern half of the
island of Timor, the nearby islands
of Atauro and Jaco, and
Oecussi-Ambeno, an exclave on the
northwestern side of the island,
within Indonesian West Timor. The
small country of 15,410 kmē (5,400
sq mi) is located about 640 km (400
mi) northwest of Darwin, Australia.
East Timor was colonized by Portugal
in the 16th century, and was known
as Portuguese Timor until Portugal's
decolonization of the country. In
late 1975, East Timor declared its
independence, but later that year
was invaded and occupied by
Indonesia and was declared
Indonesia's 27th province the
following year. In 1999, following
the United Nations-sponsored act of
self-determination, Indonesia
relinquished control of the
territory and East Timor became the
first new sovereign state of the
21st century on
May 20, 2002
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