Country file of East Timor 20 years since its referendum for independence

East Timor will celebrate the 20th anniversary of a historic referendum on August 30, that eventually gave the tiny nation independence. A former Portuguese colony, East Timor was invaded in 1975 by Indonesia and only became independent 24 years later. An estimated 180,000 died during the occupation, and the U.N. estimated that about 1,000 East Timorese died in the disorder that surrounded the 1999 vote for independence.

Following the referendum in 1999, the country was run by the United Nations administration for three years, until it is free to run its own affairs in 2002. Since independence on May 20, 2002, Dili has struggled to tackle security, social and economic woes including high unemployment, splits in the army, and poor infrastructure, healthcare and education. Outbreaks of violence, civil unrest and partisan fighting have plagued the country since independence. The Asia's youngest democracy also had to confront poverty, stamp out corruption and develop its rich oil and gas resources. The energy sector made up about 60 percent of its gross domestic product in 2014 and more than 90 percent of government revenue.