It has been under a United Nations transitional administration since voting to break away from Indonesia in 1999.

Now, surveyors and diplomats are visiting border districts to study old markers and geological features.

The survey began in the West Timor border town of Atambua on Monday and is expected to take about 10 days. On Tuesday, the surveyors were visiting East Timor's Suai district.

"They're talking to local experts - people who have lived there for years," said Philip Wood, a spokesman for the UN administration (UNTAET).

He said the Indonesian Government and East Timor's new Foreign Affairs ministry were working together and did not expect serious disagreement.

"There should be some fairly visible markers - it's more of a confirmation of where the border is," he said.

'Good spirit'

The launch of the border demarcation survey has been a major goal of the UN before it hands over power to East Timor.

The schedule for the survey was agreed last week at a meeting in Denpasar, on the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

"I think we have achieved what we set out to do [at the meeting,]" said Nelson Santos, of East Timor's Foreign Affairs ministry. "We found there was a very good spirit of co-operation from the Indonesian side."

The survey team plans to visit the border districts of Covalima, Maliana in East Timor as well as the Oecussi enclave, an area belonging to East Timor that is cut off from the rest of East Timor by Indonesian land.

Oecussi is part of East Timor because it is where Portuguese colonisers first landed hundreds of years ago.