Answered By Fire

In 1975, the Portuguese colony of Timor was occupied by Indonesian forces. Over the next two decades, hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives in an ongoing battle for independence. In 1999, in a UN-supervised referendum, the conflict zone of East Timor finally won its freedom as the world's newest independent democracy-a historic move of with mixed results for a country in transition.

In 1975, the Portuguese colony of Timor was occupied by Indonesian forces. Over the next two decades, hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives in an ongoing battle for independence. In 1999, in a UN-supervised referendum, the conflict zone of East Timor finally won its freedom as the world's newest independent democracy-a historic move of with mixed results for a country in transition.