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East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste (Tetum: Timor
Lorosae; 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 Oecusse, an exclave on the northwestern side of the island,
within Indonesian West
Timor. The small country of 15,410 km²
(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. East Timor is one of only two predominantly Roman Catholic countries in Asia, the
other being the Philippines. East Timor Today is a lower-middle-income economy. It continues to suffer the aftereffects of a decades-long independence struggle against Indonesia, which damaged infrastructure and displaced thousands of civilians. It is placed 162nd by Human Development Index (HDI) among the world's states, the second lowest in Asia. |
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