1965 - Failed coup: In the aftermath, hundreds of thousands of suspected Communists are killed in a purge of leftists which descends into vigilantism.
1966 - Sukarno hands over emergency powers to General Suharto, who becomes president in March 1967.
1969 - West Papua formally incorporated into Indonesia, becoming Irian Jaya Province.
1975 - Portugal grants East Timor independence.
1976 - Indonesia invades East Timor and incorporates it as a province.
1997 - Asian economic crisis: Indonesian rupiah plummets in value.
1998 - Protests and rioting topple Suharto; B J Habibie becomes president.
East Timor independence vote
1999 - Ethnic violence breaks out in Maluku. Free elections are held in Indonesia.
East Timor votes for independence in UN-sponsored referendum, after which anti-independence militia go on the rampage. East Timor comes under UN administration. Abdurrahman Wahid (Gus Dur) becomes president.
2000 - Two financial scandals dog the Wahid administration: Buloggate (embezzled funds from the state logistics agency), and Bruneigate (missing humanitarian aid funds from the Sultan of Brunei). The corruption case against former President Suharto collapses.
Irian Jaya separatists become more vocal in demanding a referendum.
2001 - Ethnic violence in Kalimantan as indigenous Dayaks force out Madurese transmigrants. Mass political demonstrations by Wahid's supporters and opponents. IMF stops further loans citing lack of progress in tackling corruption.