island in SE Asia, in the Malay Archipelago: the W part of the island ( West Timor) is part of Indonesia; the E part ( East Timor) is an independent nation
An island of the western Pacific Ocean in the Malay Archipelago east of Java, divided between Indonesia and East Timor. The western half of the island, formerly Netherlands Timor, became part of Indonesia in 1949. The eastern half was an overseas province of Portugal from 1914 until 1975, when it declared its independence as East Timor. Indonesia invaded the same year and annexed East Timor in 1976. East Timor achieved full independence in 2002.