1550s - Portugal invades island of Timor

1702 - Portugal designates Timor as a colony

1749 - Western part of island ceded to the Dutch

1859 - The Portuguese and the Dutch East Indies strike deal to divide Timor

1974 - Fall of Portuguese fascist regime sparks a decolonisation movement. New government appoints an East Timor governor who prepares elections to smooth the transition

1975

Mar - Leftist Fretilin and pro-Jakarta UDT parties win local elections

Aug - Portuguese administration withdraws to island of Atauro after row between Fretilin and UDT sharpens

Nov 28 - After brief civil war, Fretilin declares East Timor independent. Indonesia, Australia and Portugal refuse to acknowledge declaration. UDT strengthens alliance with Indonesia

Dec 7 - Indonesian troops invade with consent from Washington and using U.S.-made weaponry

1976

Jul 17 - Indonesian President Suharto declares East Timor Indonesia's 27th province. U.N. says Portugal remains administering power

1983

Feb - U.N. Commission on Human Rights adopts resolution affirming East Timor's right to independence

1991

Nov 12 - Indonesian troops fire on procession after funeral of an anti-Indonesia activist. Official death toll is 50, but human rights groups put it at more than 180

1992

Nov 20 - Guerrilla chief and Fretilin stalwart Xanana Gusmao captured, sentenced to life for subversion, later commuted to 20 years

1996

Oct - East Timor Bishop Carlos Belo and self-exiled resistance spokesman Jose Ramos-Horta awarded Nobel Peace Prize

1998

May 21 - Suharto forced to resign. Replaced by B.J. Habibie

Jun - Habibie says he'll consider offering East Timor "special status" and wider autonomy, but insists it will stay part of Indonesia. Portugal rejects proposal

1999

Feb - Gusmao moved from prison to house arrest

May 5 - Indonesia and Portugal sign accords allowing East Timor to hold independence ballot

Aug 30 - Nearly 99 percent of electorate vote in U.N.-organised ballot

Sep 4-14 - Result shows 78.5 percent want independence. Anti-independence militias resume terror campaign. U.N. evacuates staff from several towns. U.S. suspends military ties with Indonesia. Habibie agrees to foreign peacekeeping troops. U.N. closes its Dili compound and evacuates 1,500 East Timorese

Sep 15 - U.N. Security Council authorises a multinational force which arrives a few days later

Oct 25 - U.N. Security Council creates U.N. Transitional Administration in East Timor (UNTAET) to run the territory, organise elections and prepare it for independence

2001

Aug 30 - Election for an 88-member constituent assembly to draft constitution and prepare for independence. Fretilin wins, taking 55 seats

Dec - A special Dili court delivers first convictions for the 1999 violence, sentencing 10 pro-Jakarta militiamen to jail

2002

Jan - Truth and reconciliation commission opens

Feb - East Timor's assembly approves draft constitution envisaging a government run along parliamentary lines

Mar - Jakarta opens its first trials over the 1999 violence

Apr - East Timor's first presidential election. Former guerrilla leader Gusmao wins by landslide

May 20 - East Timor becomes independent

2005

Mar - Indonesia and East Timor launch joint truth commission aimed at putting 1999 rampage behind them

Apr - East Timor and Indonesia sign border agreement

Jun - Remaining peacekeepers leave

Dec - UNHCR ends six-year operation helping refugees who had fled to West Timor during 1999

2006

Jan - East Timor and Australia sign deal to divide billions of dollars in expected oil and gas revenues from deposits in East Timor Sea

Report on alleged atrocities during Indonesia's rule presented to U.N. It says occupation was responsible for up to 180,000 deaths

Feb Hundreds of soldiers strike over pay

Mar-Apr Military sacks around 600 mutinous soldiers, sparking weeks of protests, rioting and looting. Nearly 40 people killed and more than 150,000 displaced

May - Australian-led peacekeeping force arrives

Jun - UNHCR starts aid airlift. U.N. asks donors and relief groups for $18.9 million for emergency aid. Prime Minister Mari Alkatiri is widely blamed for the violence and steps down

2007

Apr - Gusmao appointed leader of a new political party - National Congress for Timorese Reconstruction (CNRT)

May - Gusmao steps down as president to run for the more hands-on post of prime minister. Ramos-Horta wins presidential election, after being prime minister for almost a year

Jun - Parliamentary elections held, but no party wins more than half the vote

Aug - Ramos-Horta appoints coalition government headed by Gusmao as prime minister, triggering violent protests by Fretilin supporters

2008

Feb - Ramos-Horta victim of assassination attempt by rebel soldiers. Gusmao targetted in another shooting but excapes injury. Australia pledges more troops