The youngest state in the world: After Portugal gave up all their colonies, as a result of the Carnation Revolution, East Timor proclaimed its independence on the 28. November 1975. Shortly thereafter, the new state was occupied by neighbouring Indonesia and annexed as an Indonesian province; an action, which was legitimised by the West. An acrimonious resistance war began. In 1999, due to an internal political change in Indonesia, the people of East Timor voted in a referendum for their independence. During the withdrawal the Indonesian army destroyed most of the infrastructure and hundreds of thousands were deported. The UN took over and governed the country, until East Timor could finally proclaim their (second) independence on the 20th of May 2002.