Dili is the capital, largest city, chief port and commercial centre of Timor-Leste (East Timor).
Dili was settled about 1520 by the Portuguese, who made it the capital of Portuguese Timor in 1769. East Timor unilaterally declared independence from Portugal on 28 November 1975. However, nine days later, on 7 December, Indonesian forces invaded Dili. On 17 July 1976, Indonesia annexed East Timor and designated it the 27th province of Indonesia, Timor Timur (Indonesian for East Timor), with Dili as its capital. A guerrilla war ensued from 1975 to 1999 between Indonesian and pro-independence forces, during which tens of thousands of East Timorese and some foreign civilians were killed. In 1999, East Timor was placed under UN supervision and on 20 May 2002, Dili became the capital of the newly independent Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste.
Placed with kind permission of the Director of Tourism and maintained by the staff at the Centro de Informacao Turistica, Dili.