August 30: The people of East Timor (Official name:Timor Leste) voted for independence in 1999 through a referendum for independence from Indonesia.

A demonstration for independence from Indonesia, in Australia.

The Timor island was conquered and colonized by the Portuguese in the sixteenth century and was known as Portuguese Timor until the "Carnation Revolution" in April 1974 when a military coup ended more than 40 years of government "Fascists" in Portugal. Even with the fall of the right-wing government, also the period of Portuguese colonization began.

Location of East Timor

In late 1975, East Timor declared its independence from Portugal, but the Indonesian dictator Suharto took the opportunity and invaded East Timor, while declaring it as its 27th province.

Major language groups in East Timor. East Timor's two official languages are Portuguese and Tetum. Tetum belongs to the Austronesian family of languages spoken throughout Southeast Asia.The 2010 census found that the most commonly spoken mother tongues were Tetum Prasa (mother tongue for 36.6% of the population),Mambai (12.5%), Makasai (9.7%), Tetum Terik (6.0%), Baikenu (5.9%), Kemak (5.9%), Bunak (5.3%), Tokodede (3.7%), and Fataluku(3.6%). Other indigenous languages largely accounted for the remaining 10.9%, while Portuguese was spoken natively by just under 600 people.

In 1999, after an event sponsored by the United Nations to self-determination, Indonesia relinquished control of the territory, and East Timor became the first new sovereign state of the twenty-first century.

In fact, on May 20, 2002, East Timor was admitted as a member of the United Nations, in addition to becoming a member of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries.

East Timorese march in a parade in Dili on August 30, during the 10^th anniversary of the UN –backed vote that ended the bloody 24- year occupation by Indonesian forces in the birth of Asia’s youngest nation. (Photo: Mario Jonny Dos Santos /AF-Getty images)

Timor Leste, thus, left behind an era of terror imposed by the dictator Suharto who was determined to annihilate any nationalist movement.

An East Timorese in traditional dress

The official name is the Democratic Republic of East Timor. The adjective is Timorese and their form of government is parliamentary republic with a president as head of state and a prime minister as head of government.