More than 180,000 residents of Bougainville and neighbouring Buka voted in a referendum between 23 November and 7 December on whether they should become independent of Papua New Guinea. Around 98 percent of voters backed independence; they had two ballot options – more autonomy or full independence.
The islands, named after an 18th century French explorer, were owned by Germany and Australia during the 20th century but in 1975 they became part of the newly independent Papua New Guinea.
But between 1980 and 1998 the Bougainville Revolutionary Army fought a guerrilla war for independence, which was ended by a peace agreement in 2001, which included a stipulation that there would be a referendum on going it alone within 20 years.
The referendum is non-binding but the overwhelming vote in favour will make it hard for Papua New Guinea not to allow the Bougainvilleans to go it alone, becoming the latest in a long line of new nations.
East Timor (Timor-Leste)
Just down the road from Bougainville is East Timor, which was a Portuguese colony for four centuries.
In 1975, a year after the Carnation Revolution, the Portuguese prepared to leave but nine days after East Timor declared independence it was invaded by neighbouring Indonesia, which controlled the western half of the island, a former Dutch colony.
The brutal Indonesian regime, under President Suharto, flooded East Timor with settlers and 200,000 Timorese died due to fighting, famine and disease.
After Suharto was…
