Editing Timor (section)

== History ==
{{See also|History of Timor-Leste|History of Indonesia}}
{{More citations needed section|date=October 2022}}
[[File:Timor warrior.jpg|thumb|upright|Portrait of a Timorese warrior in the area of Kupang in 1875, from the report of the expedition of the German ship [[SMS Gazelle (1859)|SMS ''Gazelle'']]]]
[[File:COLLECTIE TROPENMUSEUM Boten langs de kust van Timor TMnr 10021573.jpg|thumb|left|Boats along the Timor coast]]

The earliest historical record about Timor island is the 13th-century Chinese ''[[Zhu Fan Zhi]]'', where it is called ''Ti-wu'' and is noted for its sandalwood. Later on, in the 14th-century Javanese [[Nagarakretagama]], Canto 14, ''Timur'' is identified as an island within [[Majapahit]]'s realm. Timor was incorporated into ancient [[Java]]nese, Chinese and Indian trading networks of the 14th century as an exporter of aromatic [[sandalwood]], [[slavery|slave]]s, [[honey]] and [[wax]], and was settled by both the [[Portugal|Portuguese]], in the end of the 16th century, and the [[Netherlands|Dutch]], based in Kupang, in the mid-17th century.

As the nearest island with a European settlement at the time, Timor was the destination of [[William Bligh]] and seamen loyal to him following the infamous [[Mutiny on the Bounty|mutiny on the ''Bounty'']] in 1789. It was also where survivors of the wrecked {{HMS|Pandora|1779|6}}, sent to arrest the ''Bounty'' mutineers, landed in 1791 after that ship sank in the [[Great Barrier Reef]].

The island has been politically divided in two parts for centuries. The Dutch and Portuguese fought for control of the island until it was divided by [[Treaty of Lisbon (1859)|treaty]] in 1859, but they still did not formally resolve the matter of the boundary until 1912. [[West Timor]], was known as [[Dutch Timor]] until 1949 when it became [[Indonesian Timor]], a part of the nation of [[Indonesia]] which was formed from the old [[Netherlands East Indies]]; while [[East Timor]] was known as [[Portuguese Timor]], a Portuguese colony until 1975. It includes the [[exclave]] of [[Oecussi-Ambeno]] in West Timor.

Although Portugal was neutral during [[World War II]], in December 1941, Portuguese Timor was occupied by [[Australia]]n and Dutch forces, which were expecting a [[Empire of Japan|Japanese]] invasion. This Australian military intervention dragged Portuguese Timor into the Pacific War but it also slowed the Japanese expansion. When the Japanese did occupy Timor, in February 1942, a 400-strong Dutch-Australian force and large numbers of Timorese volunteers engaged them in [[Battle of Timor (1942–43)|a one-year guerrilla campaign]]. After the allied evacuation in February 1943 the East Timorese continued fighting the Japanese, with comparatively little [[collaborationism|collaboration]] with the enemy taking place. This assistance cost the civilian population dearly: Japanese forces burned many villages and seized food supplies. The Japanese occupation resulted in the deaths of 40,000–70,000 Timorese.

Following the [[Carnation Revolution|military coup in Portugal]] in 1974 the Portuguese began to withdraw from Timor. The [[East Timorese civil war|subsequent internal unrest]] and fear of the communist [[Fretilin]] party led to an [[Indonesian invasion of East Timor|invasion by Indonesia]], who opposed the concept of an independent East Timor. In 1975, East Timor was annexed by Indonesia and became known as ''Timor Timur'' or 'Tim-Tim' for short. It was regarded by Indonesia as the country's 27th province, but this was never recognised by the [[United Nations]] (UN) or [[Portugal]].

The people of East Timor, through [[Falintil]] the military wing of Fretilin, resisted 35,000 Indonesian troops in a prolonged guerrilla campaign, but the whole island remained under Indonesian control until [[East Timorese independence referendum, 1999|a referendum held in 1999]] under a UN-sponsored agreement between Indonesia and Portugal in which its people rejected the offer of autonomy within Indonesia. The UN then temporarily governed East Timor until it became independent as Timor-Leste in 2002 under the presidency of Falintil leader [[Xanana Gusmão]]. Political strife continued, as the new nation coped with poverty. Nevertheless, the UN presence was much reduced.

A group of people on the Indonesian side of Timor have been reported active since 2001 trying to establish a [[Great Timor]] state.<ref>{{cite web| url = http://www.etan.org/et2005/february/20/26ofical.htm| title = Officials wary of Great Timor State |publisher=[[Jakarta Post]] |via=[[ETAN]] |date=26 February 2005}}</ref> However, there is no real evidence that the people of West Timor, most of whom are ethnically [[Atoni]], the traditional enemy of the East Timorese, have any interest in such a union.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}} Furthermore, the current government of Timor-Leste recognizes the existing boundary.{{citation needed|date=December 2020}}