Dili | |
---|---|
Ceety | |
![]() Dili wi Atauro Island in backgrund | |
Coordinates: 8°34′S 125°34′E / 8.567°S 125.567°ECoordinates: 8°34′S 125°34′E / 8.567°S 125.567°E | |
Kintra | East Timor |
Destrict | ![]() |
Settled | 1520 |
Population | |
• Total | 193,563 |
Dili, spelled Díli in Portuguese, is the caipital an lairgest ceety o East Timor. It lies on the northren coast o Timor island, the eastrenmaist o the Lesser Sunda Islands. Dili is the chief port an commercial centre for East Timor, an haes approximately 150,000 indwallers. Thare is an' a' an airport in Comoro, Presidente Nicolau Lobato Internaitional Airport, renamed efter unthirldom leader Nicolau Lobato, which is uised for commercial an military flichts.
Dili is the seat o the admeenistration o the destrict o Dili, which is the admeenistrative entity o the aurie an includes the island o Atauro an some ceeties close tae Dili ceety. The ceety is pairt o the subdistricts o Nain Feto, Vera Cruz, Dom Aleixo an Cristo Rei an is dividit intae several sucos, which are heidit bi an electit chefe de suco. 18 o the 26 sucos o the fower subdistricts are categorized as urban.[1] Thare is nae ceety administration beside the destrict administrator, who wis appointit bi state gouvernment. The Timorese gouvernment stairtit tae plan in 2009 tae chynge the status o districts intae municipalities. These will hae an electit mayor an council.[2]
Dili wis settled aboot 1520 bi the Portuguese, who made it the caipital o Portuguese Timor in 1769. Durin Warld War II, Dili wis occupied bi the Japanese (see Battle o Timor). East Timor unilaterally declared independence frae Portugal on November 28, 1975. Housomeivver, nine days later, on December 7, Indonesian forces invadit Dili. On Julie 17, 1976, Indonesia annext East Timor, which it designatit the 27th province o Indonesie, Timor Timur (Indonesian for East Timor), wi Dili as its ciapital.
A guerrilla war ensued frae 1975 tae 1999 atween Indonesian an pro-unthirldom forces, durin which tens o thoosans o East Timor's an some foreign civilians wur killed. Media coverage o the 1991 Dili Massacre helped revitalise internaitional support for the East Timorese independence movement. In 1999, East Timor wis placed unner UN supervision an on Mey 20, 2002, Dili became the caipital o the newly independent Democratic Republic o Timor-Leste. In Mey 2006, fechtin an riotin sparked bi conflict atween elements o the military caused significant damage tae the ceety an led tae foreign military intervention tae restore order.