The country includes the eastern half of Timor island as well as the Oecussi enclave in the northwest portion of Indonesian West Timor, and the islands of Atauro and Jaco. Political tensions—exacerbated by Indonesian involvement—heated up, and on August 11, 1975, the Timorese Democratic Union Party (UDT) launched a coup d'état in Dili. Respected international human rights groups, however, have criticized the TFC because its limited terms of reference for achieving these ends do not provide for prosecutions or similar measures to achieve accountability, and because the TFC has made no clear progress to date. The violence escalated, with a series of deadly clashes among the F-FDTL, dissident military forces, civilians, and some police occurring on May 23–24, followed by deadly conflict between the F-FDTL and the PNTL on May 25. It has become a full-fledged member of the international community, joining the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank (ADB). Major powers also had little incentive to confront Indonesia over a territory seen as peripheral to their security interests. On September 20, 1999 the Australian-led peacekeeping troops of the International Force for East Timor (INTERFET) deployed to the country, bringing the violence to an end. Shortly after being dismissed by the F-FDTL commander, the petitioners staged protests in Dili. Some of those who consider themselves Catholic practice a mixed form of religion that includes local animist customs. Moreover, serious allegations emerged that he and other senior officials had been involved in illegal arms distribution. The presidency is a mostly ceremonial position, with executive power concentrated in the office of the prime minister.

With a voter turnout of almost 82%, the top two finishers were the FRETILIN Party candidate Francisco "Lu-olo" Guterres, who received 28% of the vote, and Jose Ramos-Horta, who received 22% of the vote after stepping down as Prime Minister to run as an independent candidate with the endorsement of former President Xanana Gusmao. Efforts are underway to put in place the institutions required to protect human rights, rebuild the economy, create employment opportunities, and reestablish essential public services.

The president's bodyguards killed Reinado. Timor-Leste became an independent nation in 2002, following over four hundred years of Portuguese colonization, twenty-four years of Indonesian occupation, and three years of United Nations transitional administration. Upon taking office, the AMP government put the problems of the internally displaced persons, the petitioners, and other issues flowing from the crisis of 2006 at the top of its policy agenda. This linguistic diversity is enshrined in the country's constitution, which designates Portuguese and Tetum as official languages and English and Bahasa Indonesia as working languages. Mari Alkatiri, FRETILIN's Secretary General, became the first Prime Minister, and the country's 29-member cabinet was dominated by FRETILIN. What you need to know before you go: visas, Embassy & Consulate locations, vaccinations, etc.Timor-Leste became an independent nation in 2002, following over four hundred years of Portuguese colonization, twenty-four years of Indonesian occupation, and three years of United Nations transitional administration. Portuguese influence during the centuries of colonial rule resulted in a substantial majority of the population identifying itself as Roman Catholic. While Indonesia has recorded more than 125,000 cases, recently rising by over 2000 each […] Shortly after the FRETILIN victory in late September, Indonesian forces began incursions into East Timor. FRETILIN won the most seats in parliament, but no single party won a majority and the various parties did not agree to form a national unity government. As requested by the Government of Timor-Leste, the UN Security Council extended the small UN political mission, UNOTIL, through the summer while members considered the mandate of a more robust UN mission to assist Timor-Leste overcome its crisis. Gender-based violence is high in Timor-Leste, and sexual harassment is fairly common. Maubisse has a population of 20,000 people and is the main coffee-growing region of the country. World leaders and the UN Security Council immediately condemned these attacks against Timor-Leste's democratically elected leaders. The Indonesian occupation of Timor was initially characterized by a program of brutal military repression. The U.S. Overseas Private Investment Corporation and the Government of Timor-Leste have signed an Investment Incentive Agreement.

The mixed Malay and Pacific Islander culture of the Timorese people reflects the geography of the country on the border of those two cultural areas. After obtaining parliamentary approval for a transitional 2007 budget and the fiscal year 2008 budget, the AMP launched its National Recovery Strategy in December 2007. Following a military coup in Lisbon in April 1974, Portugal began a rapid and disorganized decolonization process in most of its overseas territories, including East Timor.