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Timor-Leste achieved independence on 20 May 2002. Timor-Leste's independence resulted from a UN-sponsored referendum in August 1999. Timor-Leste's head of state is a directly elected President with limited executive power. The Prime Minister is the head of government and is formally appointed by the President.

Timor-Leste is a nation defined still by its 1975–99 struggle for independence, first from Portugal and then from Indonesia. Since regaining formal independence in 2002 after a three-year United Nations mission, Asia's youngest country has navigated the ups and downs of post-conflict nation-building.

The US played a crucial role in supplying weapons to Indonesia. A week after the invasion of East Timor the National Security Council prepared a detailed analysis of the Indonesian military units involved and the US equipment they used.

The United States recognized Timor-Leste, then known as East Timor, on May 20, 2002, when it achieved formal independence. Before this time, the region had been a Portuguese colony up until 1975 and was under Indonesian sovereignty from 1976 to 1999.

The East Timorese crisis of 1999 In response to the vote for independence, pro-Indonesia militia groups began attacking civilians. They centred the violence on Dili, but it spread throughout the country. About 1,400 civilians died, and around 500,000 people were displaced from their homes. Entire towns were destroyed.

The East Timorese crisis of 1999 In response to the vote for independence, pro-Indonesia militia groups began attacking civilians. They centred the violence on Dili, but it spread throughout the country. About 1,400 civilians died, and around 500,000 people were displaced from their homes. Entire towns were destroyed.

Indonesian Occupation: 1975-1999 To Indonesian nationalists, including the virulently anti-Communist President Suharto, the decolonization of Timor-Leste presented a chance to both annex Timor-Leste and liquidate a perceived Communist threat.

Following the "Balibo Declaration" that was signed by representatives of Apodeti, UDT, KOTA and the Trabalhista Party on 30 November 1975, Indonesian military forces invaded East Timor on 7 December 1975, and by 1979 they had all but destroyed the armed resistance to the occupation.