A country in Southeastern asia, northwest of australia in the Lesser Sunda islands at the eastern end of the Indonesian archipelago. It includes the eastern half of the island of Timor, the Oecussi (Ambeno) region on the northwest portion of the island of Timor, and the islands of Pulau Atauro and Pulau Jaco. On May 20, 2002, east timor was internationally recognized as an independent state. This followed its declared independence from portugal on November 20, 1975 and a period of armed conflict with indonesia.