East Timor Portuguese share a historic connection with the country of Portugal as they were the first European invaders who came to East Timor. East Timor Portuguese connection started back in the sixteenth century and many colonies were set up by them in East Timor during that time. But East Timor Portuguese invasions suffered a setback when the colonies were lost and it went into the control of the Dutch. During the years of 1596 to 1975 the country of Portugal shared East Timor with the Dutch East Indies and then with Indonesia.
East Timor Portuguese came under occupation of the forces from Holland and Australia during the years of the Second World War. East Timor Portuguese were also invaded by the Japanese forces during those years and guerrilla warfare started against them. Around this time many people of East Timor Portuguese origin died during the fierce battle.
East Timor Portuguese got transformed into East Timorese nationality in the year 1975. But soon after this an annexation took place there which was done by Indonesia but it was not accepted by the international community. Till the year 1975 the currency of East Timor Portuguese was the Portuguese Timor Escudo.
East Timor Portuguese has had a very profound influence on East Timor as very recently during the years of 2002 Portuguese was adopted as one of the official languages of the country. Many language teachers from Portugal do come to East Timor to teach the Portuguese language to a large section of the people of the country.