1512 - Portuguese explorers reach Timor, an island already known to Chinese as a source of sandalwood
1556 - Dominican friary opens at Lifau, in the Oecussi-Ambeno enclave
1642 - Portuguese soldiers arrive from nearby Solor island
1653 - Dutch build fort in the west of the island at Kupang, now the capital of the Indonesian province containing West Timor
1769 - Portuguese set up seat of government in Dili, in the east of the island
1859 - Portuguese and Dutch ratify separation of the island into east and west with the Oecussi-Ambeno enclave going to the Portuguese
1942 - Australian troops land in Dili, drawing in Japanese forces in a military engagement
1945 - Indonesia declares its independence, Portuguese resume control in East Timor
April 25, 1974 - Lisbon regime overthrown by Armed Forces Movement and East Timor abandoned along with Goa and other Portuguese colonies
August 11, 1975 - Pro-Jakarta UDT Party seizes power in Dili to check growing support for independence-minded Fretilin
October 16, 1975 - 3,200 Indonesian troops cross border. Five Australian journalists killed at Balibo
December 7, 1975 - Jakarta launches full-scale invasion of East Timor. Fretilin fighters driven to the hills province
1978 - Australia grants de jure recognition of Indonesia's annexation of East Timor
Nov 12, 1991 - Massacre in Dili's Santa Cruz cemetery re-ignites push for independence
November 1992 - Guerilla leader Xanana Gusmao captured by Indonesian troops, taken to Jakarta and sentenced to life imprisonment
July 1997 - South African President Nelson Mandela insists on meeting Gusmao in Jakarta
May 1998 - Suharto falls after 32 years in power
January 1999 - Habibie promises East Timorese a vote for either autonomy or independence
August 30 - UN-supervised referendum delivers 78.5 per cent vote for independence. Pro-Jakarta militias go on rampage
September 7 - Gusmao released into British custody in Jakarta. Looting, death and destruction in East Timor
September 12 - President Habibie invites UN peacekeeping force to East Timor after US President Bill Clinton says he "must" do so
September 20 - Australian-led international force arrives in Dili under UN auspices
October 18 - Indonesian parliament declares void Indonesia's 1976 annexation of East Timor
October 25 - UN sets up interim administration in East Timor to guide the country to independence
Nov 1 - Last Indonesian troops leave, efforts begin to repatriate 200,000 East Timorese the militias herded over the border into West Timor
August 12, 2001 - Parliamentary elections give 57.3 per cent of the vote to Fretilin
April 14, 2002 - Presidential poll
May 20 - Independence Day presided over by UN Secretary General Kofi Annan