词条 | East Timor |
释义 | East Timor East Timor, flag of ![]() ![]() The Ambeno area has valuable sandalwood forests, coconut groves, and rice plantations. Its chief town, Pante Makasar, is a port and has an airport. The hilly offshore island of Atauro, which also has an airport, has a population occupied mainly in fishing. The currency is the U.S. dollar. The Portuguese first settled on Timor in 1520, and the Spanish arrived in 1522. The Dutch took possession of the western portion of the island in 1613. The British governed the island in 1812–15. The Dutch and the Portuguese fought for supremacy over Timor; Portuguese sovereignty over the island's eastern half was settled by treaties in 1860 and 1893, although the latter became effective only in 1914. Japanese forces occupied Timor during World War II. East Timor province, including the Ambeno enclave, thereafter remained in Portuguese possession until 1975, when one of the major political parties there, Fretilin (Frente Revolucionária de Timor Leste Independente 【Revolutionary Front of Independent East Timor】), gained control of much of the territory and declared its independence (November) as the Democratic Republic of East Timor. The area was subsequently invaded and occupied by Indonesian forces (in early December) and in 1976 was declared by Indonesia to be an integral part of Indonesia as the province of Timor Timur (East Timor). Over the next two decades tens of thousands of East Timorese died (some observers claim as many as 200,000 perished) resisting the Indonesian occupation and annexation or as a result of famine and disease. In response to mounting international pressure, the Indonesian government authorized a referendum there (Aug. 30, 1999) to determine the future of East Timor. Almost four-fifths of the voters supported independence, and the Indonesian parliament rescinded Indonesia's annexation of the territory. East Timor was returned to its preannexation status of independence, but as a non-self-governing territory under UN supervision. However, the transfer of power was accompanied by violence perpetrated by anti-independence militants. Hundreds were killed, and thousands fled to the western half of the island; refugees subsequently began returning home. In April 2002 Xanana Gusmão, leader of one of the former opposition groups, was elected East Timor's first president. The territory achieved full status as a sovereign state shortly thereafter. Prime Minister José Ramos-Horta (Ramos-Horta, José) was elected president in May 2007, succeeding Gusmão, but tensions within the country remained high. In February 2008 President Ramos-Horta was seriously injured when he was shot by militant forces in an attempted assassination. |
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