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

Timor-Leste Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

, to the west of

Dili Dili (Portuguese language, Portuguese and Tetum language, Tetum: ''Díli'') is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Timor-Leste. It lies on the northern coast of the island of Timor, in a small area of flat land hemmed in by mountai ...

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

Oecusse Oecusse, also known as Oecusse-Ambeno (; ) and formerly just Ambeno, officially the Special Administrative Region Oecusse-Ambeno (), is an exclave, municipality (formerly a district) and the only Special Administrative Region (SAR) of East Tim ...

exclave An enclave is a territory that is entirely surrounded by the territory of only one other state or entity. An enclave can be an independent territory or part of a larger one. Enclaves may also exist within territorial waters. ''Enclave'' is s ...

(former Oecussi-Ambeno).

Name

The name literally means "beach of Makassar", alluding to the erstwhile trade with

Makassar Makassar ( ), formerly Ujung Pandang ( ), is the capital of the Indonesian Provinces of Indonesia, 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, ...

Sulawesi Sulawesi ( ), also known as Celebes ( ), is an island in Indonesia. One of the four Greater Sunda Islands, and the List of islands by area, world's 11th-largest island, it is situated east of Borneo, west of the Maluku Islands, and south of Min ...

(South Celebes), named by settlers who settled here seasonally in earlier centuries while waiting for the right winds to return home. 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 Oecusse, also known as Oecusse-Ambeno (; ) and formerly just Ambeno, officially the Special Administrative Region Oecusse-Ambeno (), is an exclave, municipality (formerly a district) and the only Special Administrative Region (SAR) of East Tim ...

. During the Portuguese colonisation, the city was also known as ''Vila Taveiro.''

Geography

Pante Macassar is located on the Sawu Sea in Suco Costa, 281 km west of Dili, near the north coast of the island, at an altitude of 189 metres above sea level. It consists of a series of loosely connected hamlets that reach as far west as the Tono River, which spans the Noefefan Bridge.

History

On the coast near Pante Macassar lies Oesono, where the Kingdom of Oecussi had its seat. The kingdom was ruled by

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 ...

. The ''Topasses'' were descendants of Portuguese soldiers, sailors and traders who married women from Solor. They had a decisive influence on developments on Timor in the 17th and 18th centuries. 6 kilometres west of the present-day town of Pante Macassar,

Dominicans Dominicans () also known as Quisqueyans () are an ethnic group, ethno-nationality, national people, a people of shared ancestry and culture, who have ancestral roots in the Dominican Republic. The Dominican ethnic group was born out of a fusio ...

founded the town of Lifau in 1556 to secure the sandalwood trade. From 1702 onwards, 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 Indonesia–Timor-Leste border, divided between the sovereign states of Timor-Leste in the eastern part and Indonesia in the ...

and was the first capital of

Portuguese Timor Portuguese Timor () was a Portuguese colony on the territory of present-day East Timor from 1702 until 1975. During most of this period, Portugal shared the island of Timor with the Dutch East Indies. The first Europeans to arrive in the regio ...

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

because of constant attacks from the ''Topasses''. In May 1912, during the great Manufahi rebellion, there was also an uprising against the colonial rulers in Oecussi. The rebellion was put down with the support of the gunboat

Pátria "" () is the national anthem of Timor-Leste. It was originally adopted when East Timor Democratic Republic of East Timor (1975), unilaterally declared its independence from Portuguese Timor, Portugal in 1975. However, this usage would be short ...

. In the turmoil of the last months of Portuguese rule over East Timor, Due to its distance from the remainder of

East Timor Timor-Leste, also known as East Timor, officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is a country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the coastal exclave of Oecusse in the island's northwest, and ...

, 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 Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

on 29 November 1975. Indonesia occupied Oe-Cusse Ambeno as early as 6 June 1975. When Fretilin finally declared East Timor independent from Portugal on 28 November 1975, the Indonesian flag was planted in Pante Macassar the following day. The

invasion An invasion is a Offensive (military), military offensive of combatants of one geopolitics, geopolitical Legal entity, entity, usually in large numbers, entering territory (country subdivision), territory controlled by another similar entity, ...

of the rest of East Timor began on 7 December 1975. During the

1999 East Timorese crisis The 1999 East Timorese crisis began with attacks by pro-Indonesia militia groups on civilians, and expanded to general violence throughout the country, centred in the capital Dili. The violence intensified after a majority of eligible East Tim ...

, which followed the independence referendum, Pante Macassar was targeted by pro-Indonesian militias, supported by the Indonesian military. 65 civilians who supported independence were hanged, and most of Pante Macassar was burned to the ground, except for two churches. Twice a week, a

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size or capacity, its shape, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically used on inland waterways s ...

from

arrives, for a journey that takes 12 hours (which is half a day).

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 ...

(

Köppen Köppen is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Bernd Köppen (1951–2014), German pianist and composer * Carl Köppen (1833-1907), German military advisor in Meiji era Japan * Edlef Köppen (1893–1939), German author ...

''Aw'') with a

wet season The wet season (sometimes called the rainy season or monsoon season) is the time of year when most of a region's average annual rainfall occurs. Generally, the season lasts at least one month. The term ''green season'' is also sometimes used a ...

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 t ...

from April to November.

References

Timor-Leste at GeoHive

External links