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In 1516 the Portuguese colonised the Island of Timor. They were the first Europeans to establish themselves in Timor. In the following centuries the Dutch colonised many of the islands in South East Asia in what was called the Dutch East Indies. The Dutch also laid claim to Timor. The two colonial powers squabbled over the island for over a century before coming to an agreement in 1914 to split the island. East Timor went to the Portuguese and West Timor to the Dutch.
In 1950 the Dutch pulled out of the region and the Republic of Indonesia was formed. West Timor became part of Indonesia.
It wasn't until 1975 that the fascist Portuguese regime in East Timor collapsed and they declared themselves the Democratic Republic of East Timor. Indonesia were not happy at having a small, independent, democratic republic close by and so invaded the country in 1975 and claimed sovereignty over it.
Most of the Indonesian population are Muslim. However, East Timor is predominantly Roman Catholic. Having been under Portuguese occupation for centuries, missionaries had converted the East Timorese to Catholicism.
Indonesia was to remain in East Timor until 1999 committing numerous atrocities against the people.
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