Portugal–Timor-Leste relations
diplomatic relations between East Timor and the Portuguese Republic
Portugal–Timor-Leste relations are foreign relations between Portugal and Timor-Leste (formerly East Timor). Timor-Leste has an embassy in Lisbon whilst Portugal has an embassy in Dili. East Timor was a colony of Portugal for over 400 years. Both countries belong to the Community of Portuguese Language Countries.
History
The Portuguese, in search of spices, first settled Timor in 1520. By the 17th century, the Dutch arrived, settling the western half of the island of Timor. A treaty in 1859 formalized the division. East Timor is a predominantly Roman Catholic region, a legacy of Portugal's rule Portugal had effective control of East Timor only after the second half of the 20th century.
Following fighting between rival groups seeking independence from Portugal, Indonesia invaded East Timor and annexed it in 1976 after East Timor declared itself independent from Portugal on 28 November 1975. The invasion resulted in Portugal severing diplomatic ties with Indonesia.
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This entry incorporates text from “Portugal–Timor-Leste relations” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.