West Timor

West Timor (Indonesian: Timor Barat) is the western and Indonesian portion of the island of Timor and part of the province of East Nusa Tenggara (Indonesian: Nusa Tenggara Timur).

During the colonial period it was known as Dutch Timor and was a centre of Dutch loyalists during the Indonesian National Revolution (1945–1949).

From 1949 to 1975 it was known as Indonesian Timor.

European colonization of Timor began in the 16th century. Although the Portuguese claimed the island of Timor in 1520, the Dutch (in the form of the Dutch East India Company) settled West Timor in 1640, forcing the Portuguese out to East Timor. The subsequent collapse of the company meant that in 1799, the area returned to official Dutch rule. Finally, in 1914, the border between East and West Timor was finalized by a treaty between Portugal and the Netherlands that was originally signed in 1859 and modified in 1893.

West Timor had the status of residentie within the Dutch East Indies.

Japan conquered the island during World War II in early 1942. Upon Indonesian independence, West Timor became part of the new Republic of Indonesia.

On 6 September 2000, Pero Simundza from Croatia, Carlos Caceres-Collazio from Puerto Rico and Samson Aregahegn from Ethiopia – all UNHCR staff members – were killed in an attack by 5,000 members of a pro-Indonesian militia, armed with machetes, on the office of UNHCR in the town of Atambua, which is in the vicinity of the border with East Timor and where the main refugee camp was located. (See attacks on humanitarian workers.)

West Timor is a political region that comprises the western half of Timor island with the exception of Oecusse district (which is politically part of East Timor) and forms a part of the Indonesian province of Nusa Tenggara Timur (NTT, or East Nusa Tenggara). The land area of West Timor is 15,850 square kilometres (6,120 sq mi). The highest point of West Timor is Mount Mutis, at 2,427 metres (7,963 ft).

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