The history of East Timor's mail and postage stamps includes the development of postal services in East Timor, a country in Southeast Asia located on the eastern half of the island of Timor, on the islands of Atauro and Jacu, and in the Oecussi exclave (on the northwestern side of the island within the Indonesian West Timor), with its capital in Dili, and is conventionally divided into periods: Portuguese Timor (1586-1975), for which postage stamps have been issued since 1884; being part of Indonesia (1975-2002) and the independent Democratic Republic of East Timor since 2002. Since 2003, independent East Timor has been a member of the Universal Postal Union.