East Timor, also known as Timor-Leste, was a Portuguese colony for over 300 years. It was invaded in 1975 by Indonesian troops, following the precipitous departure of Portugal. This led to one of the longest and bloodiest guerrilla wars in history, in which about a third of East Timor's 650,000 inhabitants were killed through mass executions, bombings and above all starvation. Following the fall of the Indonesian dictator Suharto, the Government agreed to hold a referendum in 1999, in which 75 percent of East Timorese voted for independence.