August 30 is Popular Consultation Day in East Timor, commemorating the day in 1999 when the United Nations Act of Self-Determination freed it from 25 years of Indonesian occupation.

East Timor became the first new sovereign state of the 21st century on 20 May 2002 and subsequently joined the United Nations and the Community of Portuguese Language Countries. East Timor has been petitioning to join the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) since 2011.