In 1999, in a UN-sponsored referendum, an overwhelming majority of East Timorese voted for independence from Indonesia. Following a United Nations-administered transition period, East Timor was internationally recognised as an independent nation in 2002.

East Timor

The Indonesian invasion of East Timor, known in Indonesia as Operation Lotus (Indonesian: Operasi Seroja), began on 7 December 1975 when the Indonesian military (ABRI/TNI) invaded East Timor under the pretext of anti-colonialism and anti-communism to overthrow the Fretilin regime that had emerged in 1974.

Australia led the INTERFET operation in 1999, and provided substantial forces to the subsequent United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor and its successor operations. Australia also landed combat troops in the country in 2006 to quell ethnic fighting that involved East Timorese police and soldiers.

Indonesian occupation of East Timor

Dutch East
In the 1600s, the Dutch East India Company (VOC) began colonizing parts of Indonesia. After the abolition of the VOC in 1796, the Dutch government gained control over Indonesia, which was then referred to as the Netherlands East Indies.

Papua conflict

In December 1949, after four years of military and diplomatic confrontation with the Netherlands, the Dutch Government finally recognised the independence of the Dutch East Indies, which became the Republic of the United States of Indonesia.

A Company, 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment returns to Townsville after 71 days in Timor Leste as part of Battle Group Faithful.

The Balibo Five were based in the town of Balibo in East Timor (then Portuguese Timor), where they were killed on 16 October 1975 during Indonesian incursions before the invasion. The official Indonesian version is that the men were killed by cross-fire during the battle for the town.

When Japan surrendered on 17 August 1945, the Indonesian leader, Sukarno, proclaimed the independence of Indonesia. Between 1947 and 1948, the Netherlands launched two major military interventions, but the nationalists held firm, and the Dutch, under pressure from the United Nations and the United States, had to yield.

Bobonaro municipality also is famed for producing some very fine tais, many with distinctive black backgrounds. The rugged country further south is covered in forest and open grasslands used for grazing cattle and horses and requires a strong 4WD vehicle.

Bobonaro Municipality ( Portuguese: Município Bobonaro, Tetum: Munisípiu Bobonaru, or Munisípiu Buburnaru) is a municipality (and was formerly a district) in the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste commonly known as East Timor. It is the second-most western municipality on the east half of the island.

It sits at 9.00°S and 125.22°E, 149 km from to the southwest of the national capital, Dili. The next two largest cities in the municipality are Bobonaro City (also known as Aubá), with 6,700 people; and Lolotoi with a population of 3,800.

The 1980 resettlement program of the Indonesian government (transmigrasi) relocated a large number of Indonesian families to East Timor as a strategy of neutralizing the independence movement (McCloskey 2000:5).