On this day in ...... 2002, East Timor (flag at left), as English speakers call the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, became the 191st member state of the United Nations. It was admitted by unanimous vote of the U.N. General Assembly, whose President noted that it "had been the first independent State to emerge in the twenty-first century." (In 2006, Montenegro became the 192d, and most recent, U.N. member state.) Composed of about 1.1 million people, East Timor is among the world's poorest countries.
(Prior September 27 posts are here, here, and here.)
