Pante Macassar ( pt, Pante Macassar, ) is a city in the Pante Macassar administrative post on the north coast of

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 ...

, to the west of

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 ...

, the nation's capital. It has a population of 4,730 (Stand 2006). It is the capital of the

Oecusse Oecusse (also variously ''Oecussi'', ''Ocussi'', ''Oekussi'', ''Oekusi'', ''Okusi'', ''Oé-Cusse''), also known as Oecusse-Ambeno (; ) and formerly just Ambeno, officially the Special Administrative Region Oecusse-Ambeno (), is an exclave, mun ...

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 ...

(former Oecussi-Ambeno). The name literally means "beach of Makassar," alluding to the erstwhile trade with

Makassar Makassar (, mak, ᨆᨀᨔᨑ, Mangkasara’, ) is the capital of the Indonesian province of South Sulawesi. It is the largest city in the region of Eastern Indonesia and the country's fifth-largest urban center after Jakarta, Surabaya, Meda ...

Sulawesi Sulawesi (), also known as Celebes (), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the world's eleventh-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Mindanao and the Sulu ...

(Celebes). Locally Pante Macassar is known also as "Oecussi," which is commonly translated as "water pot", and was the name of one of the two original kingdoms that form the exclave. The other was Ambeno. During the Portuguese colonisation, the city was also known as ''Vila Taveiro.'' Lifau, in the outskirts of the present city, was the place where the Portuguese first disembarked on

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, ...

and was the first capital 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 ...

. It continued as capital until 1769, when that was transferred to

because of constant attacks from the ''Topasses''. Due to its distance from the remainder of

, Oecussi-Ambeno, and specifically Pante Macassar, became the first territory occupied by

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 ...

on 29 November 1975. In 1999, in the tumult that accompanied the referendum for independence, Pante Macassar was particularly affected by the destructiveness of the pro-integration militias, supported by the Indonesian army. Sixty-five civilian supporters of independence were hanged, and 90 percent of the buildings were burned down. Today, the city has only a few dozen houses next to a beach with crystal-clear water, surrounded by palms. Crime is practically unknown. The only radio station works only occasionally due to an old transmitter, and electricity is limited to five hours at night. Twice a week, the isolation is briefly interrupted when a ferry boat from

arrives, for a journey that takes 12 hours.

Climate

As is typical of the north coast of Timor, Pante Macassar 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

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 March and a long

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 April to November.

References

Timor-Leste at GeoHive

External links

{{East Timor capitals Populated places in Oecusse

Climate

References

Further reading

External links