Portuguese Timor
Portuguese Timor (Portuguese: Timor Português) was a colonial possession of Portugal that existed between 1702 and 1975. During most of this period, Portugal shared the island of Timor with the Dutch East Indies.
Portuguese Timor Timor Português | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1702–1942 1945–1975 | |||||||||||
| Anthem: "Hymno Patriótico" (1808–26) Patriotic Anthem "Hino da Carta" (1826–1911) Hymn of the Charter "A Portuguesa" (1911–75) The Portuguese | |||||||||||
Portuguese Timor with 1869-established boundaries. | |||||||||||
| Status | Colony of the Portuguese Empire Occupied by the Japanese Empire (1942–1945) | ||||||||||
| Capital | Lifau (1702–69) Dili (1769–1975) | ||||||||||
| Common languages | Tetum, Portuguese, Malay | ||||||||||
| Religion | Catholicism | ||||||||||
| Government | Colony | ||||||||||
| Head of state | |||||||||||
Peter II (first) | |||||||||||
• 1908–10 | Manuel II (last) | ||||||||||
Teófilo Braga (first) | |||||||||||
• 1974–75/76 | Francisco da Costa Gomes (last de facto) | ||||||||||
| Governor | |||||||||||
• 1702–05 | António Coelho Guerreiro (first) | ||||||||||
• 1974–75 | Mário Lemos Pires (last) | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
• Establishment | 1702 | ||||||||||
• Japanese occupation of Portuguese Timor | 1942–45 | ||||||||||
| 28 November 1975 | |||||||||||
| 7 December 1975 | |||||||||||
• Independence achieved | 20 May 2002 | ||||||||||
| Area | |||||||||||
• Total | 14,874 km2 (5,743 sq mi) | ||||||||||
| Currency | Timorese pataca (PTP) Timorese escudo (PTE) | ||||||||||
| ISO 3166 code | TL | ||||||||||
| |||||||||||
| Today part of | East Timor | ||||||||||
The first Europeans to arrive in the region were the Portuguese in 1515. Dominican friars established a presence on the island in 1556, and the territory was declared a Portuguese colony in 1702. Following the beginning of the Carnation Revolution (a Lisbon-instigated decolonisation process) in 1975, East Timor was invaded by Indonesia. However, the invasion was not recognized as legal by the United Nations (UN), which continued to regard Portugal as the legal Administering Power of East Timor. The independence of East Timor was finally achieved in 2002 following a UN-administered transition period.