exclave An enclave is a territory (or a small territory apart of a larger one) that is entirely surrounded by the territory of one other state or entity. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is sometimes used improperly to deno ...

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

district A district is a type of administrative division that, in some countries, is managed by the local government. Across the world, areas known as "districts" vary greatly in size, spanning regions or counties, several municipalities, subdivision ...

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-w ...

Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western part. The Indonesian part, ...

West Timor West Timor ( id, Timor Barat) is an area covering the western part of the island of Timor, except for the district of Oecussi-Ambeno (an East Timorese exclave). Administratively, West Timor is part of East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. The ...

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

province A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman ''provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions out ...

East Nusa Tenggara East Nusa Tenggara ( id, Nusa Tenggara Timur – NTT; pt, Sonda Oriental) is the southernmost province of Indonesia. It comprises the eastern portion of the Lesser Sunda Islands, facing the Indian Ocean in the south and the Flores Sea in the nor ...

Savu Sea The Savu Sea (or the Sawu Sea) ( id, Laut Sawu, pt, Mar de Savu, tet, Tasi Savu) is a small sea within Indonesia named for the island of Savu (Sawu) on its southern boundary. It is bounded by Savu and Rai Jua to the south, the islands of ...

Pante Macassar Pante Macassar ( pt, Pante Macassar, ) is a city in the Pante Macassar administrative post on the north coast of East Timor, to the west of Dili, the nation's capital. It has a population of 4,730 (Stand 2006). It is the capital of the Oec ...

Portuguese Timor Portuguese Timor ( pt, Timor Português) was a colonial possession of Portugal that existed between 1702 and 1975. During most of this period, Portugal shared the island of Timor with the Dutch East Indies. The first Europeans to arrive in th ...

portmanteau A portmanteau word, or portmanteau (, ) is a blend of wordsUab Meto language. "Oe" means "water", but there are differing interpretations for "Kussi". The word is often equated with the name of a certain type of traditional clay jug, so "Oe-Kussi" would mean something like "water pot". There is a legend about the provenance of this name, relating to a stone, the "", in the '' suco'' of . Other sources state that Kussi was a native ruler of Ambeno. The name "Ambeno" is derived from "Ambenu", which is similarly a portmanteau of two words. "Ama" or "am" means "father" or "king", and "Benu" is the name of two legendary rulers of the region. In the Portuguese colonial period, "Oecusse" and "Ambeno" were both already being used as synonyms referring to the exclave. Later, the

double-barrelled name A double-barrelled name is a type of compound surname, typically featuring two words (occasionally more), often joined by a hyphen. Examples of some notable people with double-barrelled names include Winnie Madikizela-Mandela and Sacha Baron ...

Oecusse-Ambeno came into use. In the official list of all administrative divisions of East Timor published in 2009, the then district was referred to only by its short name "Oecusse". The present day SAR is not politically divided along the borders of the old empires of the area. In Ministerial Diploma 16/2017, "Oe-Cusse Ambeno" was once again officially used. As is not uncommon in East Timor, there are numerous different spellings for the region's name: Oe-Kusi, Oecusse, Ocussi, Oecússi, Oecussi, Oekussi, Oekusi, Okusi, Oé-Cusse. The spellings with "k" are mostly derived from Tetum or other Austronesian languages, and those with "c" are spellings based on Portuguese. As has just been indicated, the double-barrelled name Oecusse-Ambeno (also Oecussi-Ambeno, Ocussi-Ambeno, Oecússi-Ambeno, Oe-Kusi Ambenu) was reactivated in official usage in 2017, in place of Oecusse on its own. The exclave is seldom now referred to only as Ambeno (Ambenu), as it was during the Indonesian occupation of East Timor.

Geography

Overview

Oe-Cusse Ambeno região administrativa especial

Oecusse SAR has a total area of . It is completely surrounded by Indonesian territory, except to the north, where it faces

Ombai Strait Ombai Strait ( id, Selat Ombai, pt, Estreito de Ombai, tet, Estreitu Ombai) is an international strait in Southeast Asia. It separates the Alor Archipelago from the islands of Wetar, Atauro, and Timor in the Lesser Sunda Islands. The strai ...

(at that point, part of the

Savu Sea The Savu Sea (or the Sawu Sea) ( id, Laut Sawu, pt, Mar de Savu, tet, Tasi Savu) is a small sea within Indonesia named for the island of Savu (Sawu) on its southern boundary. It is bounded by Savu and Rai Jua to the south, the islands of ...

). Geographically, the rest of East Timor is east of the SAR's easternmost tip; by road, the distance is more than . In the north of the SAR, there is

coastal plain A coastal plain is flat, low-lying land adjacent to a sea coast. A fall line commonly marks the border between a coastal plain and a piedmont area. Some of the largest coastal plains are in Alaska and the southeastern United States. The Gulf Co ...

and

savanna A savanna or savannah is a mixed woodland- grassland (i.e. grassy woodland) ecosystem characterised by the trees being sufficiently widely spaced so that the canopy does not close. The open canopy allows sufficient light to reach the ground ...

rising to relatively arid hills up to

AMSL Height above mean sea level is a measure of the vertical distance (height, elevation or altitude) of a location in reference to a historic mean sea level taken as a vertical datum. In geodesy, it is formalized as '' orthometric heights''. The ...

, and then mountains. The main river in the exclave is the

Tono River The Tono River ( pt, Ribeira de Tono or , tet, Mota Tono) is the principal river of Oecusse, an exclave of East Timor. The river and its major tributaries flow generally north, through the centre of the exclave, into the Savu Sea, reaching the ...

, which flows into the Savu Sea near Lifau, just west of Pante Macassar. Outside the

rainy season The rainy season is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Rainy Season may also refer to: * ''Rainy Season'' (short story), a 1989 short horror story by Stephen King * "Rainy Season", a 2018 song by Monni * '' ...

, however, the river, although

perennial A perennial plant or simply perennial is a plant that lives more than two years. The term ('' per-'' + '' -ennial'', "through the years") is often used to differentiate a plant from shorter-lived annuals and biennials. The term is also widel ...

, comes close to drying up. Away from the Tono valley, the SAR consists essentially of a landscape rising sharply to at least AMSL. The northeast of the SAR has the wildest and youngest of the whole island's surface structure, and is partially of volcanic origin. Close to the SAR's northeastern border, within the Pante Macassar administrative post, is the (''Fatu Nipane'') ( AMSL). In the southernmost of the SAR's administrative posts, Passabe, the land rises continuously and, at the SAR's southwestern tip, reaches ( AMSL), the highest peak in the whole of the SAR. Other mountains in the SAR include the ( AMSL) in the west of the Nitibe administrative post, and the ( in Passabe. Around 30% of the SAR is wooded, mostly by forest and ''

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as ...

'' woodland, which is often threatened by

slash-and-burn Slash-and-burn agriculture is a farming method that involves the cutting and burning of plants in a forest or woodland to create a field called a swidden. The method begins by cutting down the trees and woody plants in an area. The downed veget ...

(swidden) agriculture and illegal tree cutting. South of the town of Oesilo (in the '' suco'' of ) are active

mud volcano A mud volcano or mud dome is a landform created by the eruption of mud or slurries, water and gases. Several geological processes may cause the formation of mud volcanoes. Mud volcanoes are not true igneous volcanoes as they do not produce ...

es. At its far western extremity, the SAR extends to the Indonesian

regency A regent (from Latin : ruling, governing) is a person appointed to govern a state '' pro tempore'' (Latin: 'for the time being') because the monarch is a minor, absent, incapacitated or unable to discharge the powers and duties of the monarchy ...

of

Kupang Kupang ( id, Kota Kupang, ), formerly known as Koepang, is the capital of the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. At the 2020 C ensus, it had a population of 442,758; the official estimate as at mid 2021 was 455,850. It is the largest ci ...

; to the east and south lies the

North Central Timor Regency North Central Timor Regency ( id, Kabupaten Timor Tengah Utara) is a regency in East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. It covers an area of 2,669.70 km2, and had a population of 229,803 at the 2010 Census and 259,829 at the 2020 Census; the off ...

. The SAR's land border is about in length, its coastline about long. There are border crossings at (Oesilo) – (Indonesia), Citrana (Nitibe) – Oipoli (Indonesia), and Passabe ( Passabe) – (Indonesia) leading to West Timor, and at Sacato (

Pante Macassar Pante Macassar ( pt, Pante Macassar, ) is a city in the Pante Macassar administrative post on the north coast of East Timor, to the west of Dili, the nation's capital. It has a population of 4,730 (Stand 2006). It is the capital of the Oec ...

) – Wini (Indonesia) leading both to West Timor and, via another crossing, to the main part of East Timor. As of 2019, East Timor and Indonesia were at odds over the ''Área Cruz'' (Passabe), until it was agreed that it belonged to East Timor. Also disputed are the 'Citrana Triangle', the town of (Nitibe) and

Batek Island Batek Island or Fatu Sinai is a small uninhabited island located in the Savu Sea, northwest of the island of Timor, off the East Timorese municipality of Oecusse. The sovereignty of the island is disputed between Indonesia and East Timor.GMN TV ...

(or ''Fatu Sinai''), off the coast of the SAR's westernmost point.

Climate

Oecusse has a

tropical savanna climate Tropical savanna climate or tropical wet and dry climate is a tropical climate sub-type that corresponds to the Köppen climate classification categories ''Aw'' (for a dry winter) and ''As'' (for a dry summer). The driest month has less than of ...

( Köppen ''Aw'') with a hot, humid and uncomfortable

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the Rainy season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. It is the time of year where the majority of a country's or region's annual precipitation occurs. Generally, the sea ...

from December to April and a hot, less humid

dry season The dry season is a yearly period of low rainfall, especially in the tropics. The weather in the tropics is dominated by the tropical rain belt, which moves from the northern to the southern tropics and back over the course of the year. The ...

from May to November. The temperature in Oecusse depends on elevation. In the coastal lowlands, it is about in daytime ( at night). With each of elevation, it decreases about . The annual precipitation rate is . As in many parts of Timor, some areas become isolated in the rainy season because of flooding.

History

Oecusse and Ambeno are the names of the two original kingdoms in the area, of which Ambeno existed before the colonial period. Oecusse was among the first parts of the island of

Timor Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western part. The Indonesian part, ...

on which the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

established themselves, and is thus usually considered the cradle of East Timor. In about 1556, the Dominican friar António Taveiro, operating from a base on

Solor Solor is a volcanic island located off the eastern tip of Flores island in the Lesser Sunda Islands of Indonesia, in the Solor Archipelago. The island supports a small population that has been whaling for hundreds of years. They speak the lang ...

, started missionary work on the north coast of Timor. Shortly after this, in 1569, the village of "Alifao" ( Lifau) is mentioned on a European map. It was situated five kilometres to the west of modern

Pante Macassar Pante Macassar ( pt, Pante Macassar, ) is a city in the Pante Macassar administrative post on the north coast of East Timor, to the west of Dili, the nation's capital. It has a population of 4,730 (Stand 2006). It is the capital of the Oec ...

. For the Portuguese traders in

sandalwood Sandalwood is a class of woods from trees in the genus '' Santalum''. The woods are heavy, yellow, and fine-grained, and, unlike many other aromatic woods, they retain their fragrance for decades. Sandalwood oil is extracted from the woods for ...

, Lifau was a convenient place to land since it was situated to the south of their base in the

Solor Archipelago The Solor Archipelago () is a group of islands in the Lesser Sunda Islands, Indonesia, lying to the east of Flores and to the west of the Alor Strait and the Alor Archipelago. To the north is the west part of the Banda Sea, while to the south a ...

. The area was dominated by the Ambeno kingdom, which was sometimes referred as the kingdom of Lifau. In 1641 the Dominican priests baptised the royal families of the Ambeno, Mena and

Amanuban Amanuban was a traditional princedom in West Timor, Indonesia. It lay in the regency (kabupaten) Timor Tengah Selatan. In the late colonial period, according to an estimate in 1930, Amanuban covered 2,075 square kilometers. The centre of the prin ...

kingdoms, which meant that Portuguese influence increased in parts of western Timor. Migration of

Topasses Topasses (Tupasses, Topas, Topaz) were a group of people led by the two powerful families – Da Costa and Hornay – that resided in Oecussi and Flores. The Da Costa families were descendants of Portuguese Jewish merchants and Hornay were Dutch. ...

, a

Eurasian Eurasia (, ) is the largest continental area on Earth, comprising all of Europe and Asia. Primarily in the Northern and Eastern Hemispheres, it spans from the British Isles and the Iberian Peninsula in the west to the Japanese archipela ...

population, rose in the 1650s from

Larantuka Larantuka () is a ''kecamatan'' (district) and the seat capital of East Flores Regency, on the eastern end of Flores Island, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. Like much of the region, Larantuka has a strong a colonial Portuguese influence. The to ...

on

Flores Flores is one of the Lesser Sunda Islands, a group of islands in the eastern half of Indonesia. Including the Komodo Islands off its west coast (but excluding the Solor Archipelago to the east of Flores), the land area is 15,530.58 km2, and t ...

. After 1664 they were governed by officers belonging to the Hornay and

Costa Costa may refer to: Biology * Rib (Latin: ''costa''), in vertebrate anatomy * Costa (botany), the central strand of a plant leaf or thallus * Costa (coral), a stony rib, part of the skeleton of a coral * Costa (entomology), the leading edge of th ...

families, and were able to dominate most of Timor. The Topass leaders used Lifau as their main stronghold on Timor, but still resided much of their time in Larantuka. In the second half of the seventeenth century they made great profits through the sandalwood trade, attracting merchants from

Siam Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

, Batavia,

Macao Macau or Macao (; ; ; ), officially the Macao Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (MSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China in the western Pearl River Delta by the South China Sea. With a po ...

, and Goa. The precious wood was brought to Lifau and sold to external traders under Topass supervision. In 1702, Lifau became the authorised capital of the colony when it received the first governor from Goa. The following period saw frequent clashes between the governor and the independent-minded Topasses, who had their strongholds in Tulicão west of Lifau, and Animata in the inland. Under their leader

Gaspar da Costa Gaspar da Costa (d. Penfui, West Timor, 9 November 1749) was the leader or ''tenente geral'' (lieutenant general) of the Portuguese-speaking Topasses, a Eurasian group that dominated much of the politics on Timor in the early modern period. He was ...

they attacked the Dutch colonial post at

Kupang Kupang ( id, Kota Kupang, ), formerly known as Koepang, is the capital of the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. At the 2020 C ensus, it had a population of 442,758; the official estimate as at mid 2021 was 455,850. It is the largest ci ...

in 1749 but were smashingly defeated in the

Battle of Penfui The Battle of Penfui took place on 9 November 1749 in the hillside of Penfui, near modern Kupang. A large Topass army was defeated by a numerically inferior Dutch East India Company force following the withdrawal of the former's Timorese allies fr ...

, and subsequently moved their residence to

Pante Macassar Pante Macassar ( pt, Pante Macassar, ) is a city in the Pante Macassar administrative post on the north coast of East Timor, to the west of Dili, the nation's capital. It has a population of 4,730 (Stand 2006). It is the capital of the Oec ...

(Oecusse) in 1759 due to Dutch military pressure. The capital of the governor was transferred from Lifau to

Dili Dili ( Portuguese/ Tetum: ''Díli'') is the capital, largest city of East Timor and the second largest city in Timor islands after Kupang (Indonesia). It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed i ...

in 1769, because of the frequent attacks from the Topass leader Francisco Hornay III. Most of

West Timor West Timor ( id, Timor Barat) is an area covering the western part of the island of Timor, except for the district of Oecussi-Ambeno (an East Timorese exclave). Administratively, West Timor is part of East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. The ...

was left to

Dutch Dutch commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands * Dutch people () * Dutch language () Dutch may also refer to: Places * Dutch, West Virginia, a community in the United States * Pennsylvania Dutch Country People E ...

forces, who were conquering what is today

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

. The Eurasian leadership of Oecusse by and by turned into a Timorese kingship, and members of the Hornay and Costa families reigned as Liurai (kings) until modern times. They regularly intermarried with the Ambeno royalty. In the 1780s a reconciliation took place between the governor in Dili and the Topasses, who henceforth usually supported the Portuguese government. In 1859, with the

Treaty of Lisbon The Treaty of Lisbon (initially known as the Reform Treaty) is an international agreement that amends the two treaties which form the constitutional basis of the European Union (EU). The Treaty of Lisbon, which was signed by the EU member s ...

,

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...

and the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

divided the island between them.

West Timor West Timor ( id, Timor Barat) is an area covering the western part of the island of Timor, except for the district of Oecussi-Ambeno (an East Timorese exclave). Administratively, West Timor is part of East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. The ...

became Dutch, with its colonial seat at

Kupang Kupang ( id, Kota Kupang, ), formerly known as Koepang, is the capital of the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. At the 2020 C ensus, it had a population of 442,758; the official estimate as at mid 2021 was 455,850. It is the largest ci ...

, and

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-w ...

became Portuguese, with its seat in

Dili Dili ( Portuguese/ Tetum: ''Díli'') is the capital, largest city of East Timor and the second largest city in Timor islands after Kupang (Indonesia). It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed i ...

. This left Oecusse and Noimuti as enclaves surrounded by Dutch territory. In 1912 the Liurai of Ambeno, João da Cruz, staged a revolt against the Portuguese. It was quickly put down, after which the Ambeno kingdom lapsed. The Liurai of Oecusse became dominant in the entire Oecusse exclave. The definitive border was drawn by

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

in 1916. Apart from Japanese occupation during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

, the border remained the same until the end of the colonial period. The region was given the status of county ''(conselho)'', named Oecússi, by the Portuguese government in August 1973, the last Timorese area to receive it.

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

n forces invaded Oecusse on 6 June 1975. In October they occupied the western border districts of East Timor's main territory. It was in Pante Macassar that an Indonesian

fifth column A fifth column is any group of people who undermine a larger group or nation from within, usually in favor of an enemy group or another nation. According to Harris Mylonas and Scott Radnitz, "fifth columns" are “domestic actors who work to un ...

raised the

Indonesian flag The Flag of Indonesia is a simple bicolor with two horizontal bands, red (top) and white (bottom) with an overall ratio of 2:3. It was introduced and hoisted in public during the proclamation of independence on 17 August 1945 at 56 Proklamasi ...

on 29 November 1975, a week before the official

Indonesian invasion of East Timor The Indonesian invasion of East Timor, known in Indonesia as Operation Lotus ( id, Operasi Seroja), began on 7 December 1975 when the Indonesian military (ABRI/TNI) invaded East Timor under the pretext of anti-colonialism and anti-communism to ...

proper. However, even under Indonesian rule, Oecusse was administered as part of the province of East Timor, as it had been as part of

Portuguese Timor Portuguese Timor ( pt, Timor Português) was a colonial possession of Portugal that existed between 1702 and 1975. During most of this period, Portugal shared the island of Timor with the Dutch East Indies. The first Europeans to arrive in th ...

. Like much of the country, it suffered violent attacks near the 1999 referendum for independence. Over 90 percent of the infrastructure was destroyed. It became part of the independent state of East Timor on 20 May 2002. In the 1970s and 1980s,

New Zealander New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

anarchist Bruce Grenville began a hoax, claiming to have founded the sultanate of Occussi-Ambeno. He invented a history for the state of tribes united against the

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

, and produced many

cinderella stamp In philately, a cinderella stamp is "virtually anything resembling a postage stamp, but not issued for postal purposes by a government postal administration". There is a wide variety of cinderella stamps, such as those printed for promotional ...

s for his creation. On 11 November 1999, over 600 Australian troops from 3RAR (Third Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment) deployed from Maliana in East Timor proper to Oecusse to liberate the enclave. They stayed there until late February 2000, being replaced by

Jordan Jordan ( ar, الأردن; tr. ' ), officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan,; tr. ' is a country in Western Asia. It is situated at the crossroads of Asia, Africa, and Europe, within the Levant region, on the East Bank of the Jordan Rive ...

ian troops.

Politics

Articles 5 and 71 of the 2002 constitution provide that Oecussi Ambeno be governed by a special administrative policy and economic regime. Law 03/2014 of 18 June 2014 created the Special Administrative Region of Oecusse Ambeno (Região Administrativa Especial de Oecusse Ambeno, RAEOA). A national development programme to implement governmental policy, called ZEESM TL (Special Zones of Social Market Economy of Timor-Leste) is in place. The President of RAEOA & ZEESM TL was

Mari Alkatiri Mari bin Amude Alkatiri, GCIH ( ar, مرعي بن عمودة الكثيري '; born 26 November 1949) is a Timorese politician. He was Prime Minister of East Timor from May 2002 until his resignation on 26 June 2006 following weeks of politic ...

, a former

Prime Minister of East Timor , insignia = Coat of arms of East Timor.svg , insigniasize = 125px , insigniacaption = Coat of arms of East Timor , flag = , flagsize = , flagborder = ...

. The East Timor government that established the ZEESM TL programme was hoping that it would bring economic sustainability before the country's oil and gas reserves run out. During a visit to Oecusse in November 2015, the then Prime Minister, Rui Maria de Araújo, claimed that the government's investment in the Region would benefit all people in East Timor, not just those in Oecusse. However, there has been criticism of the programme's lack of transparency and accountability, and its absence of any public cost-benefit or risk analysis, or any significant private investment. Questions have also been raised as to whether the programme is one that is necessarily appropriate for the area, or likely to be in the best interests of its citizens. According to one commentator, many observers of East Timor's strategic investment choices have wondered, "Why is the government of a country argelysubsistence farmers obsessed with glitzy prestige projects at the expense of more pressing needs such as health and agriculture?" Yet the same commentator has also noted, more recently, that the imposition of the programme generated a plurality of opinions and reactions in Oecusse, mostly eliciting curiosity and the will to cautiously negotiate solutions. Not only did the local population adapt to the programme and endure significant changes in their lifestyles; additionally, some aspects of the programme were modified in some significant detail to accommodate deep and strongly expressed popular sentiments.

Administrative posts

Oecusse is divided into four administrative posts (formerly sub-districts): * Nitibe * Oesilo *

Pante Macassar Pante Macassar ( pt, Pante Macassar, ) is a city in the Pante Macassar administrative post on the north coast of East Timor, to the west of Dili, the nation's capital. It has a population of 4,730 (Stand 2006). It is the capital of the Oec ...

(with capital

Pante Macassar Pante Macassar ( pt, Pante Macassar, ) is a city in the Pante Macassar administrative post on the north coast of East Timor, to the west of Dili, the nation's capital. It has a population of 4,730 (Stand 2006). It is the capital of the Oec ...

) * Passabe The administrative posts are divided into 18 ''sucos'' (villages) in total.

Demographics

Population

According to the 2015 Census, Oecusse has a population of 68,913 people, divided into 14,345 households. The

Atoni The Atoni (also known as the Atoin Meto, Atoin Pah Meto or Dawan) people are an ethnic group on Timor, in Indonesian West Timor and the East Timorese enclave of Oecussi-Ambeno. They number around 844,030. Their language is Uab Meto. The Atoni ...

Pah Meto (typically just referred to as the Meto) are the dominant ethnic group, and Meto is the only indigenous language spoken. The Meto people also dominate the population of Indonesian

West Timor West Timor ( id, Timor Barat) is an area covering the western part of the island of Timor, except for the district of Oecussi-Ambeno (an East Timorese exclave). Administratively, West Timor is part of East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. The ...

.

Languages

The native language of most residents is

Uab Meto Uab Meto or Dawan is an Austronesian language spoken by Atoni people of West Timor. The language has a variant spoken in the East Timorese exclave of Oecussi-Ambeno, called Baikenu. Baikenu uses words derived from Portuguese, for example, ''o ...

(Meto), often referred to by outsiders as

Baikeno Uab Meto or Dawan is an Austronesian language spoken by Atoni people of West Timor. The language has a variant spoken in the East Timorese exclave of Oecussi-Ambeno, called Baikenu. Baikenu uses words derived from Portuguese, for example, ''obr ...

.

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

is used in education and government, although despite its status as an official language there are few fluent speakers. Although Indonesian was used as a

lingua franca A lingua franca (; ; for plurals see ), also known as a bridge language, common language, trade language, auxiliary language, vehicular language, or link language, is a language systematically used to make communication possible between groups ...

until 1999, since then it has been almost completely replaced in this role by

Tetum , nativename=Tetun , states= Indonesia East Timor , speakers=, mostly in Indonesia , date=2010–2011 , ref=e18 , speakers2=50,000 L2-speakers in Indonesia and East Timor , familycolor=Austronesian , fam2=Malayo-Polynesian , fam3= Central–East ...

which is the primary language of government, education and public life and is spoken and understood in all but very remote areas of the SAR.

Religion

99.3% of the inhabitants are

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: * Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD * Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a let ...

and 0.6% Protestant. There were 36 Hindus, 21 Muslims, 10 Animists and one Buddhist in the 2010 census. As is common throughout Timor-Leste most Catholics practise a syncretic variety of the religion and continue to pay homage to sacred sites and ancestral spirits, a suite of practices usually referred to using the Indonesian loanword, 'adat'.

Transport

Air

The new Oecusse or Rota do Sandalo International Airport was inaugurated by East Timorese President Francisco Guterres on 18 June 2019 and serves as the main gateway to Oecusse. The airport was previously an airstrip located at the edge of

Pante Macassar Pante Macassar ( pt, Pante Macassar, ) is a city in the Pante Macassar administrative post on the north coast of East Timor, to the west of Dili, the nation's capital. It has a population of 4,730 (Stand 2006). It is the capital of the Oec ...

and was refurbished at a cost of US$119 million. Previously, there were six return flights a week to and from the East Timor capital Dili.

Road

Main roads link Pante Macassar to Sacato 15 km (10 miles) to the east, and Bobometo to the south-east, both of which are on the East Timor-Indonesia border and are official

border crossings ''Border Crossings'' is a live, all-request, music-oriented radio show that is broadcast worldwide by the US government-operated Voice of America Voice of America (VOA or VoA) is the State media, state-owned news network and International br ...

into

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Gui ...

. The integrated border post at Sacato (also spelled Sakato) is the major crossing for Oecusse as it is on the shortest land route between Oecusse and East Timor proper via the border crossing at

Mota'ain Mota'ain, also spelled Motain, Mota'in or Mota Ain, is a hamlet in the Silawan village ('' desa''), East Tasifeto district (''kecamatan''), Belu Regency, East Nusa Tenggara, Indonesia. A major border crossing checkpoint with customs, immigration ...

/ Batugade. The Indonesian checkpoint across the border from Sacato is Wini. The Bobometo border crossing (with Napan on the Indonesian side) in on the road to

Kefamenanu Kefamenanu is a town and capital of the administrative district ('' kecamatan'') of Kota Kefamenanu and of the North Central Timor Regency in West Timor, Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast ...

. A network of minor roads link other areas within Oecusse Municipality with Pante Macassar and the capitals of administrative posts. On 12 June 2017 a bridge over the

Tono River The Tono River ( pt, Ribeira de Tono or , tet, Mota Tono) is the principal river of Oecusse, an exclave of East Timor. The river and its major tributaries flow generally north, through the centre of the exclave, into the Savu Sea, reaching the ...

was inaugurated by the president of Timor-Leste,

Francisco Guterres Francisco Guterres, popularly known as Lú-Olo (born 7 September 1954), is an East Timorese politician who served as president of East Timor from 20 May 2017 to 20 May 2022. He is also the president of the political party Fretilin, and he was ...

. The Noefefan Bridge connects the isolated regions to the west of the Tono River to Pante Macassar, providing them permanent access to markets, the ferry and airport, even during the rainy season (November to April). Roads also lead to minor border crossings in Passabe (with Haumeniana also in

North Central Timor Regency North Central Timor Regency ( id, Kabupaten Timor Tengah Utara) is a regency in East Nusa Tenggara Province, Indonesia. It covers an area of 2,669.70 km2, and had a population of 229,803 at the 2010 Census and 259,829 at the 2020 Census; the off ...

) and Citrana (with Oepoli in

Kupang Regency Kupang Regency is a regency in East Nusa Tenggara province of Indonesia. It occupies the far western end of Timor Island (apart from the area of Kupang city, which has been administratively separated from the Regency since 11 April 1996), together ...

), mostly catering to crossings by residents of border villages.

Sea

The

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water ta ...

'' Berlin Nakroma'' connects Oecusse to

Dili Dili ( Portuguese/ Tetum: ''Díli'') is the capital, largest city of East Timor and the second largest city in Timor islands after Kupang (Indonesia). It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed i ...

, arriving twice a week on a journey which takes 12 hours.

References

Notes

*

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * *

External links

Union of Capital Cities of the Portuguese Language (in Portuguese)Association of Soldiers of Oecusse (in Portuguese)
* La'o Hamutuk
''Special Economic Zone in Oecusse''
(in English & Tetum)
Oecusse Enclave
*Official Timor-Leste Regional Governmental Website: for RAEOA and ZEESM TL
www.zeesm.tl
{{Authority control Municipalities of East Timor Enclaves and exclaves East Timor–Indonesia border

Etymology

Geography

Overview

Climate

History

Politics

Administrative posts

Demographics

Population

Languages

Religion

Transport

Air

Road

Sea

References

Notes

Bibliography

Further reading

External links