{{Short description|East Timorese exclave and municipality}} {{EngvarB|date=April 2022}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}} {{Expand German|Oe-Cusse Ambeno|topic=geo|date=March 2011}} {{Infobox settlement | name = Oecusse | settlement_type = Municipality and<br />Special Administrative Region | official_name = {{native name list |tag1=pt|name1=Região Administrativa Especial Oé-Cusse Ambeno |tag2=tet|name2=Oecussi Ambeno}} | image_skyline = {{CSS image crop |Image = Mountains in Oecusse.jpg |bSize = 284 |cWidth = 284 |cHeight = 118 |oTop = 42 |oLeft = 0 |Location = center }} | image_alt = Mountains in Oecusse in 2015 | image_caption = Mountains in Oecusse in 2015 | image_flag = Raeoa.png | image_seal = Emblem of Oecusse.png | image_map = {{TL wikidata|image_map1}} | map_alt = Map of Timor-Leste highlighting the Municipality | map_caption = {{Legend inline|#b0121f|outline=silver}} '''Oecusse''' in {{Legend inline|#fefeec|outline=silver}} '''Timor-Leste''' | mapframe = yes | mapframe-zoom = 8 | map_alt1 = Map of the Municipality | map_caption1 = | coordinates = {{coord|09|21|S|124|18|E|region:TL-OE_type:adm1st|display=it}} | coor_pinpoint = | subdivision_type = Sovereign state | subdivision_name = {{flag|Timor-Leste}} | parts_style = para | established_title = | established_date = | seat_type = Capital | seat = Pante Macassar | government_footnotes = | leader_party = | leader_title = President of the SAR Oecusse-Ambeno | leader_name = Régio da Cruz Salu | unit_pref = Metric | area_footnotes = | area_total_km2 = {{TL wikidata|area}} | area_rank = 8th | area_note = | elevation_footnotes = | elevation_m = | population_footnotes = | population_total = 80685 | population_as_of = Census of 15 October 2022 | population_rank = 6th | population_density_km2 = auto | population_density_rank = 4th | demographics_type1 = {{TL wikidata|demographics_type1}} | demographics1_footnotes = | demographics1_title1 = {{TL wikidata|demographics1_title1}} | demographics1_info1 = {{TL wikidata|demographics1_info1}} | demographics1_title2 = Rank | demographics1_info2 = 6th | population_note = | timezone = {{TL wikidata|timezone}} | utc_offset = {{TL wikidata|utc_offset}} | iso_code = TL-OE | blank_name_sec2 = HDI (2017) | blank_info_sec2 = 0.553<ref name="GlobalDataLab">{{Cite web |url=https://hdi.globaldatalab.org/areadata/shdi/ |title=Sub-national HDI – Area Database – Global Data Lab |website=hdi.globaldatalab.org |language=en |access-date=13 September 2018 |archive-date=23 September 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180923120638/https://hdi.globaldatalab.org/areadata/shdi/ |url-status=live }}</ref><br />{{color|#358993|medium}} · 13th | website = {{URL|https://www.oe-cusse.gov.tl/}} }}

'''Oecusse''',{{efn|Also variously ''Oecussi'', ''Ocussi'', ''Oekussi'', ''Oekusi'', ''Okusi'', ''Oé-Cusse''}} also known as '''Oecusse-Ambeno''' ({{Langx|pt|Oé-Cusse Ambeno}}; {{Langx|tet|Oecussi Ambeno}}) and formerly just '''Ambeno''', is an exclave, municipality (formerly a district) and the only Special Administrative Region (SAR) of Timor-Leste.

Located on the north coast of the western portion of Timor, Oecusse is separated from the rest of Timor-Leste by West Timor, Indonesia, which is part of the province of East Nusa Tenggara. West Timor surrounds Oecusse on all sides except the north, where the exclave faces the Savu Sea.

The capital of Oecusse is Pante Macassar, also called ''Oecussi Town'', or formerly, in Portuguese Timor, ''Vila Taveiro''. Originally ''Ambeno'' was the name of the former district and ''Oecussi'' its capital.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/default/CommunityGovernanceDocuments/The_Languages_of_East_Timor_Some_Basic_Facts.pdf |title=Archived copy |access-date=28 February 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091001090126/http://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/default/CommunityGovernanceDocuments/The_Languages_of_East_Timor_Some_Basic_Facts.pdf |archive-date=1 October 2009 |url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Toponymy== <!--thumb|left|A 1902 map of "O'Kusi Ambenu"--> thumb|left|The {{ill|Cussi|de|Kussi}}, mythical origin of Oecusse ''Oecusse'' is the traditional name of Pante Macassar, the present-day capital of the special administrative region, and its environs. Pante Macassar's location was also the seat of the second traditional kingdom of the area, based at {{ill|Costa, Oecusse|de|Costa (Pante Macassar)|lt=Oesono}}.<ref name="hull 2002">{{Citation |last=Hull |first=Geoffrey |author-link=Geoffrey Hull |year=2002 |title=The Languages of East Timor: Some Basic Facts (Revised 9.2.2002) |publisher=Independently published |publication-place= |page= |url=http://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/default/CommunityGovernanceDocuments/The_Languages_of_East_Timor_Some_Basic_Facts.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091001090126/http://www.portphillip.vic.gov.au/default/CommunityGovernanceDocuments/The_Languages_of_East_Timor_Some_Basic_Facts.pdf |archive-date=1 October 2009 |access-date=20 April 2022}}</ref> ''Ambeno'' was the historic Timorese empire that occupied most of the present-day SAR's territory; it was centred in Tulaica and {{ill|Nunuhenu|de}}.<ref name="yoder 2005">{{cite thesis |last=Yoder |first=Laura |date=2005 |title=Custom, codification, collaboration: Integrating the legacies of land and forest authorities in Oecusse Enclave, East Timor |type=PhD thesis |publisher=Yale University |oclc= |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/35216589 |access-date=20 April 2022}}</ref>{{rp|58,124}}

The portmanteau "Oe-Kussi", from which "Oecusse" is derived, has its origins in the local Baikeno variant of the Uab Meto language. "Oe" means "water", but there are differing interpretations for "Kussi". That word is often equated with the name of a certain type of traditional clay jug, so "Oe-Kussi" would mean something like "water pot".<ref name="hull 2002"/><ref name="hull 2006">{{cite journal |last1=Hull |first1=Geoffrey |authorlink1=Geoffrey Hull |title=The placenames of East Timor |journal=Placenames Australia: Newsletter of the Australian National Placenames Survey |date=June 2006 |pages=6–7, at 6 |url=http://www.anps.org.au/upload/June_2006.pdf |accessdate=20 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170214220045/http://anps.org.au/documents/June_2006.pdf |archive-date=14 February 2017 |url-status = live|df=dmy-all }}</ref> There is a legend about the provenance of this name, relating to a stone, the "{{ill|Cussi|de|Kussi}}", in the ''suco'' of {{ill|Banafi|de}}.<ref>{{Citation |last=Real |first=José Fernando |date=21 July 2021 |title=Cussi: A Lenda do Arco-íris: Ai-knanoik Oekusi nian / Cussi: A Lenda do Arco-íris |trans-title=Cussi: The Legend of the Rainbow |series=(recorded narration by Moisés Seco Fallo (Sani), {{ill|Lian Nain|de}} from Kussi, ''Suco'' {{ill|Banafi|de}}) |publisher=Lifau: 500 Sonhos em Timor |publication-place= |page= |url=https://www.facebook.com/Lifau.500.sonhos/posts/3920391558070131 |access-date=20 April 2022 |language=tet,pt}}</ref> 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.<ref>Border demarcation map of Oecusse dated 16 February 1899.</ref> Later, the double-barrelled name Oecusse-Ambeno came into use. In the official list of all administrative divisions of Timor-Leste published in 2009, the then district was referred to only by its short name "Oecusse".<ref name="jr 2009-09-16">{{cite journal |title=Diploma Ministerial No:199/GM/MAEOT/IX/09 (15 September 2009) |journal=Jornal da República |date=16 September 2009 |volume=Série I |issue=33 |page=3588 |url=http://www.jornal.gov.tl/public/docs/2009/serie_1/serie1_no33.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100203110707/http://www.jornal.gov.tl/public/docs/2009/serie_1/serie1_no33.pdf |archive-date=3 February 2010 |access-date=20 April 2022 |language=pt}}</ref> The present day SAR is not politically divided along the borders of the old empires of the area.<ref name="yoder 2005"/>{{rp|124}} In Ministerial Diploma 16/2017, "Oe-Cusse Ambeno" was once again officially used.<ref name="jr 2017-10-05">{{cite journal |title=Declaração de Rectificação do Diploma Ministerial N.º 16/2017 (9 May 2017) |journal=Jornal da República |date=10 May 2017 |volume=Série I |issue=17B |page=4 |url=http://www.mj.gov.tl/jornal/public/docs/2017/serie_1/SERIE_I_NO_17_B.pdf |access-date=20 April 2022 |language=pt}}</ref>

As is not uncommon in Timor-Leste, 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.<ref name="wheeler 2004">{{cite book |last1=Wheeler |first1=Tony |last2=Gusmão |first2=Xanana |last3=Sword |first3=Kirsty |author1-link=Tony Wheeler |author2-link=Xanana Gusmão |author3-link=Kirsty Sword Gusmão |title=East Timor |date=2004 |publisher=Lonely Planet |location=Footscray, Vic. |isbn=1740596447 |page=102}}</ref>

==Geography== ===Overview=== {{CSS image crop |Image = Berge bei Sacato, Nipane.jpg |bSize = 220 |cWidth = 220 |cHeight = 145 |oTop = 20 |oLeft = 0 |Location = right |Description = Mountains near Sacato, in the ''suco'' of {{ill|Nipane, East Timor|de|Nipane (Pante Macassar)|lt=Nipane}} |Alt = Mountains near Sacato, in the suco of Nipane }} thumb|Official map of Oecusse SAR Oecusse SAR has a total area of {{cvt|813.6|km2}}.<ref name="dge datasheet">{{Citation |year=2015 |title=Timor-Leste Population and Housing Census – Data Sheet |publisher=General Directorate of Statistics |publication-place=Dili |url=https://www.statistics.gov.tl/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Wall-Chart-Poster-Landscape-Final-English-rev.pdf |access-date=17 April 2022}}</ref> It is completely surrounded by Indonesian territory, except to the north, where it faces Ombai Strait (at that point, part of the Savu Sea).<ref name="iho 1953">{{cite web |url=https://iho.int/uploads/user/pubs/standards/s-23/S-23_Ed3_1953_EN.pdf |title=Limits of Oceans and Seas, 3rd edition |year=1953 |publisher=International Hydrographic Organization |access-date=28 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111008191433/http://www.iho-ohi.net/iho_pubs/standard/S-23/S23_1953.pdf |archive-date=8 October 2011 |pages=27, 30}}</ref><ref name="arsana 2006">{{cite book |last1=Arsana |first1=I. Made Andi |last2=Rizos |first2=C. |last3=Schofield |first3=Clive H. |chapter=The application of GIS in maritime boundary delimitation: a case study on the Indonesia-East Timor maritime boundary delimitation |date=2006 |chapter-url=https://ro.uow.edu.au/lawpapers/452 |editor-last1=Abdul-Rahman |editor-first1=A. |editor-last2=Zlatanova |editor-first2=S. |editor-last3=Coors |editor-first3=V. |title=Innovations in 3D Geo Information Systems |series=Lecture Notes in Geoinformation and Cartography series |location=Berlin |publisher=Springer |doi=10.1007/978-3-540-36998-1_53 |access-date=19 April 2022 |pages=695–719}}</ref><ref name="adb 2019-07">{{cite report |date=July 2019 |title=Enhanced Cooperation and Integration between Indonesia and Timor Leste: Scoping Study |url=https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/521121/cooperation-integration-indonesia-timor-leste.pdf |publisher=Asian Development Bank |pages=10, 15–16 |doi=10.22617/TCS190259-2 |isbn=9789292616731 |access-date=21 April 2022}}</ref> Geographically, the rest of Timor-Leste is {{cvt|58|km}} east of the SAR's easternmost tip; by road, the distance is more than {{cvt|70|km}}.<ref name="sanchez 2012">{{cite journal |last1=Sanchez |first1=Caitlin |last2=Lopes Carvalho |first2=Venancio |last3=Kathriner |first3=Andrew |last4=O’Shea |first4=Mark |last5=Kaiser |first5=Hinrich |title=First Report on the Herpetofauna of the Oecusse District, an Exclave of Timor-Leste |journal=Herpetology Notes |date=2012 |volume=5 |pages=137–149, at 137 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/259910612 |access-date=17 April 2022 |publisher=Societas Europaea Herpetologica (SEH) |language=en}}</ref>

In the north of the SAR, there is coastal plain and savanna rising to relatively arid hills up to {{cvt|1000|m}} AMSL, and then mountains.<ref name="seehausen 2018">{{cite journal |last1=Seehausen |first1=Malte |last2=Pinto |first2=Rui Miguel da Silva |last3=Trainor |first3=Colin Richard |last4=Lopes |first4=Jafet Potenzo |title=Further records of Odonata from Timor Island, with the first photographs of living Nososticta impercepta (Odonata: Platycnemididae) and additional records from Rote and Romang Islands |journal=Faunistic Studies in South-east Asian and Pacific Island Odonata |date=30 December 2018 |issue=25 |page=4 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330466803 |access-date=10 April 2022 |language=en |issn=2195-4534}}</ref>{{rp|4}} The main river in the exclave is the Tono River,<!--.--><ref name="seehausen 2018"/>{{rp|4}}<!-- It has its source in the Oesilo administrative post, and --> which flows into the Savu Sea near Lifau, just west of Pante Macassar.<ref name="uc aiset:tg">{{cite web |title=An Information Service on East Timor: The geomorfology |url=http://www1.ci.uc.pt/timor/geomorf.html |website=University of Coimbra |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref> Outside the rainy season, however, the river, although perennial,<ref name="nunes 2001">{{cite conference |url=https://members.tripod.com/sd_east_timor/PROC%20Papers/Natural%20resources%20and%20conservation/Mario%20Nunes/Mario%20Nunes%20PROC.htm |title=The Natural Resources of East Timor: A physical, geographical and ecological review |last=Nunes |first=Mario N. (Manager ETTA Forestry Unit) |date=26 January 2001 |conference=Conference on Sustainable Development in East Timor |conference-url=https://members.tripod.com/sd_east_timor/ |editor1-last=Anderson |editor1-first=Russell |editor2-last=Deutsch |editor2-first=Carolyn |book-title=Sustainable Development and the Environment in East Timor: Proceedings of the Conference on Sustainable Development in East Timor, held from 25–31 January 2001 |publisher=Timor Aid |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210724101951/https://members.tripod.com/sd_east_timor/ |archive-date=24 July 2021 |url-status=live |location=Dili |isbn=0646417169 |doi= |access-date=30 July 2022 |language=en}}</ref> comes close to drying up.<ref name="holthouse 2008">{{cite report |last1=Holthouse |first1=Kym |last2=Grenfell |first2=Damian |date=2008 |title=Social and Economic Development in Oecusse, Timor-Leste |url=http://mams.rmit.edu.au/f6qs47gbumu3.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090930204656/http://mams.rmit.edu.au/f6qs47gbumu3.pdf |archive-date=30 September 2009 |location=Melbourne |publisher=Oxfam Australia and the Globalism Institute, RMIT University |isbn=9780646486871 |page=11 |access-date=30 July 2022 }}</ref> Away from the Tono valley, the SAR consists essentially of a landscape rising sharply to at least {{cvt|800-900|m}} AMSL.{{sfn|DPOE|2002|p=3}}

The northeast of the SAR has the wildest and youngest of the whole island's surface structure, and is partially of volcanic origin.<ref name="uc aiset:tg"/> Close to the SAR's northeastern border, within the Pante Macassar administrative post, is the {{ill|Mount Sapu|ceb|Mount Sapu|de|Sapu (Berg)|lt=Sapu}} (''Fatu Nipane'') ({{cvt|1259|m}} AMSL).<ref name="sanchez 2012"/><ref name="g nuaf sapu">{{cite web |title=Nuaf Sapu, Timor-Leste |url=https://www.geographic.org/geographic_names/name.php?uni=8010430&fid=6170&c=timor-leste |website=geographic.org |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref> In the southernmost of the SAR's administrative posts, Passabe, the land rises continuously and, at the SAR's southwestern tip, reaches {{ill|Bisae Súnan|de}} ({{cvt|1560|m}} AMSL), the highest peak in the whole of the SAR.<ref name="seehausen 2018"/>{{rp|4}}<ref name="amoc mapa">{{cite web |title=TIMOR LORO SAE – MAPA: Mapa do enclave de Oecussi Ambeno |trans-title=EAST TIMOR – MAPS: Map of the Oecusse enclave |url=http://oecussi.no.sapo.pt/terra2.htm |website=A.M.O.C. – Associação dos Militares do Oecussi |access-date=18 April 2022 |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20091217204329/http://oecussi.no.sapo.pt/terra2.htm |archive-date=17 December 2009 |language=pt |url-status=dead }}</ref> Other mountains in the SAR include the {{ill|Mount Manoleu|de|Manoleu|lt=Manoleu}} ({{cvt|1171|m}} AMSL) in the west of the Nitibe administrative post, and the {{ill|Mount Puas|de|Puas|lt=Puas}} ({{cvt|1121|m}} in Passabe.<ref name="sanchez 2012"/><ref name="amoc mapa"/>

Around 30% of the SAR is wooded, mostly by forest and ''Eucalyptus'' woodland, which is often threatened by slash-and-burn (swidden) agriculture and illegal tree cutting.<ref name="seehausen 2018"/>{{rp|4}} South of the town of Oesilo (in the ''suco'' of {{ill|Bobometo|de}}) are active mud volcanoes.<ref name ="santos 2012">{{citation |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/331112566 |title=Mud volcano in East Timor: Constituent materials, the process, the geological structure and its interpretation |last1=Santos |first1=Frederico |last2=Pereira |first2=Jose |last3=Araujo |first3=Antonio |date=2012 |access-date=18 April 2022}}</ref>

At its far western extremity, the SAR extends to the Indonesian regency of Kupang; to the east and south lies the North Central Timor Regency.{{sfn|Bano|2013–2014|p=13}} The SAR's land border is about {{cvt|300|km}} in length, its coastline about {{cvt|50|km}} long.{{sfn|DPOE|2002|p=3}} There are border crossings at {{ill|Bobometo|de}} (Oesilo)&nbsp;– {{ill|Napan|de}} (Indonesia), Citrana (Nitibe)&nbsp;– Oipoli (Indonesia), and Passabe (Passabe)&nbsp;– {{ill|Haumeni Ana|id|Haumeni Ana, Bikomi Nilulat, Timor Tengah Utara}} (Indonesia) leading to West Timor, and at Sacato (Pante Macassar)&nbsp;– Wini (Indonesia) leading both to West Timor and, via another crossing, to the main part of Timor-Leste.<ref>{{Citation |date=11 June 2003 |title=Arrangement between the Government of the Republic of Indonesia and the Government of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste on Traditional Border Crossings and Regulated Markets <!--|publisher=Immigration Service of Timor-Leste |publication-place=Dili--> |page=14 |quote= Annex D |url=https://migracao.gov.tl/pdf/Border%20Pass%20Agreement%20(2003).pdf |access-date=}}</ref><ref name ="sutisna 2006">{{cite conference |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/240635277 |title=Delineation and Demarcation Surveys of the Land Border in Timor: Indonesian Perspective |last1=Sutisna |first1=Sobar |last2=Handoyo |first2=Sri |date=2006 |pages=1–9, at 7 |location=Bangkok |conference=International Symposium on Land and River Boundaries Demarcation and Maintenance in Support of Borderland Development |id=}}</ref>

As of 2019, Timor-Leste and Indonesia were at odds over the ''Área Cruz'' (Passabe), until it was agreed that it belonged to Timor-Leste. Also disputed are the {{cvt|1069|ha}} 'Citrana Triangle', the town of {{ill|Naktuka|de}} (Nitibe) and Batek Island (or ''Fatu Sinai''), {{cvt|12|km}} off the coast of the SAR's westernmost point.<ref name="gmn tv 2022-01-22">{{cite news |author1=Tos |title=Xanana aprezenta progresu negosiasaun fronteira marítima no terrestre ba PN – GMN TV |url=https://gmntv.tl/justica-e-seguranca/01/2022/xanana-aprezenta-progresu-negosiasaun-fronteira-maritima-no-terrestre-ba-pn/ |access-date=17 April 2022 |work=GMN TV |date=22 January 2022 |language=tet |archive-date=6 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220706054311/https://gmntv.tl/justica-e-seguranca/01/2022/xanana-aprezenta-progresu-negosiasaun-fronteira-maritima-no-terrestre-ba-pn/ |url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Climate=== Oecusse has a tropical savanna climate (Köppen ''Aw'') with a hot, humid and uncomfortable wet season from December to April and a hot, less humid dry season from May to November.

The temperature in Oecusse depends on elevation. In the coastal lowlands, it is about {{cvt|31–33|°C}} in daytime ({{cvt|20–25|°C}} at night). With each {{cvt|1000|m}} of elevation, it decreases about {{cvt|4–5|°C}}. The annual precipitation rate is {{cvt|1000–2500|mm}}. As in many parts of Timor, some areas become isolated in the rainy season because of flooding.<ref name="seehausen 2018"/>{{rp|3–4}}

{{Weather box|width=70% |location=Oecusse (1919–1963) |metric first=Yes |single line=Yes |temperature colour= |Jan record high C=32.3 |Feb record high C=31.3 |Mar record high C=33.4 |Apr record high C=34.6 |May record high C=34.8 |Jun record high C=33.8 |Jul record high C=33.2 |Aug record high C=33.8 |Sep record high C=34.7 |Oct record high C=35.4 |Nov record high C=33.6 |Dec record high C=32.0 |year record high C=35.4 |Jan high C=29.7 |Feb high C=29.3 |Mar high C=29.8 |Apr high C=30.4 |May high C=30.7 |Jun high C=30.3 |Jul high C=29.6 |Aug high C=29.1 |Sep high C=28.8 |Oct high C=29.4 |Nov high C=30.6 |Dec high C=30.3 |year high C=29.8 |Jan mean C=27.3 |Feb mean C=27.0 |Mar mean C=27.2 |Apr mean C=27.6 |May mean C=27.7 |Jun mean C=27.1 |Jul mean C=26.2 |Aug mean C=26.0 |Sep mean C=26.3 |Oct mean C=27.5 |Nov mean C=28.4 |Dec mean C=27.9 |year mean C=27.2 |Jan low C=24.9 |Feb low C=23.6 |Mar low C=23.1 |Apr low C=22.8 |May low C=22.8 |Jun low C=22.0 |Jul low C=20.8 |Aug low C=20.4 |Sep low C=20.3 |Oct low C=22.0 |Nov low C=23.6 |Dec low C=23.8 |year low C=22.5 |Jan record low C=20.5 |Feb record low C=21.6 |Mar record low C=19.0 |Apr record low C=20.4 |May record low C=18.5 |Jun record low C=16.0 |Jul record low C=15.6 |Aug record low C=16.4 |Sep record low C=17.0 |Oct record low C=18.0 |Nov record low C=20.9 |Dec record low C=21.8 |year record low C=15.6 |rain colour=green |Jan rain mm=282.0 |Feb rain mm=228.6 |Mar rain mm=205.5 |Apr rain mm=89.0 |May rain mm=36.6 |Jun rain mm=7.7 |Jul rain mm=6.2 |Aug rain mm=2.6 |Sep rain mm=1.3 |Oct rain mm=15.6 |Nov rain mm=54.2 |Dec rain mm=177.3 |unit rain days=0.1 mm |Jan rain days=16 |Feb rain days=15 |Mar rain days=13 |Apr rain days=7 |May rain days=2 |Jun rain days=1 |Jul rain days=1 |Aug rain days=0 |Sep rain days=0 |Oct rain days=2 |Nov rain days=5 |Dec rain days=14 |Jan humidity=78 |Feb humidity=78 |Mar humidity=76 |Apr humidity=74 |May humidity=68 |Jun humidity=63 |Jul humidity=65 |Aug humidity=67 |Sep humidity=71 |Oct humidity=76 |Nov humidity=75 |Dec humidity=77 |year humidity=72 |Jan sun=182.9 |Feb sun=166.7 |Mar sun=248.0 |Apr sun=264.0 |May sun=294.5 |Jun sun=279.0 |Jul sun=297.6 |Aug sun=310.0 |Sep sun=351.0 |Oct sun=316.2 |Nov sun=294.0 |Dec sun=235.6 |year sun= |Jand sun=5.9 |Febd sun=5.9 |Mard sun=8.0 |Aprd sun=8.8 |Mayd sun=9.5 |Jund sun=9.3 |Juld sun=9.6 |Augd sun=10.0 |Sepd sun=11.7 |Octd sun=10.2 |Novd sun=9.8 |Decd sun=7.6 |yeard sun=8.8 |source 1=Deutscher Wetterdienst<ref name=DWD>{{cite web |url=http://www.dwd.de/DWD/klima/beratung/ak/ak_973850_kt.pdf |title=Klimatafel von Ocussi, Insel Timor / Ost-Timor |work=Baseline climate means (1961–1990) from stations all over the world |publisher=Deutscher Wetterdienst |language=de |access-date=29 January 2016 |archive-date=18 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190818094020/https://www.dwd.de/DWD/klima/beratung/ak/ak_973850_kt.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> }}

==Economy== {{empty section|section=5|date=November 2025|find2=Oecusse economy}}

==History== thumb|A padrão in Lifau marks the spot where the Portuguese first landed on Timor in 1515. 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 on which the Portuguese established themselves, and is thus usually considered the cradle of Timor-Leste.

In about 1556, the Dominican friar António Taveiro, operating from a base on Solor, 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Durand |first=Frédéric |title=Timor: 1250–2005, 750 ans de cartographie et de voyage |date=2006 |publisher=Arkuiris |location=Toulouse |page=65 |language=fr|trans-title=Timor: 1250–2005, 750 Years of Cartography and Travel}}</ref> For the Portuguese traders in sandalwood, Lifau was a convenient place to land since it was situated to the south of their base in the Solor Archipelago. 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 kingdoms, which meant that Portuguese influence increased in parts of western Timor. Migration of Topasses, a Eurasian population, rose in the 1650s from Larantuka on Flores. After 1664 they were governed by officers belonging to the Hornay and Costa 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, Batavia, Macao, and Goa. The precious wood was brought to Lifau and sold to external traders under Topass supervision.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hägerdal |first=Hans |date=2007<!--no bot--> |title=Rebellions or Factionalism? Timorese Forms of Resistance in an Early Colonial Context, 1650–1769 |journal=Bijdragen tot de Taal-, Land- en Volkenkunde |language=en |volume=163 |issue=1 |pages=10–14 |doi=10.1163/22134379-90003678 |jstor=27868341|doi-access=free}}</ref>

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 they attacked the Dutch colonial post at Kupang in 1749 but were smashingly defeated in the Battle of Penfui, and subsequently moved their residence to Pante Macassar (Oecusse) in 1759 due to Dutch military pressure. The capital of the governor was transferred from Lifau to Dili in 1769, because of the frequent attacks from the Topass leader Francisco Hornay III. Most of West Timor was left to Dutch forces, who were conquering what is today Indonesia. 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Boxer |first=C. R. |title=The Topasses of Timor |date=1947 |publisher=Indisch Instituut te Amsterdam |location=Amsterdam |language=en}}</ref>

In 1859, with the Treaty of Lisbon, Portugal and the Netherlands divided the island between them. West Timor became Dutch, with its colonial seat at Kupang, and Timor-Leste became Portuguese, with its seat in Dili. 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.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pélissier |first=R. |title=Timor en guerre: Le crocodile et les portugais (1847–1913) |date=1996 |publisher=Pélissier |location=Orgeval |pages=274–277, 299–301 |language=fr|trans-title=Timor at War: The Crocodile and the Portuguese (1847–1913)}}</ref> The definitive border was drawn by The Hague in 1916. Apart from Japanese occupation during World War II, 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.

Indonesian forces invaded Oecusse on 6 June 1975. In October they occupied the western border districts of Timor-Leste's main territory. It was in Pante Macassar that an Indonesian fifth column raised the Indonesian flag on 29 November 1975, a week before the official Indonesian invasion of Timor-Leste proper. However, even under Indonesian rule, Oecusse was administered as part of the province of Timor-Leste, as it had been as part of Portuguese Timor. 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 Timor-Leste on 20 May 2002.

In the 1970s and 1980s, anarchist New Zealander 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, and produced many cinderella stamps for his creation.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Hayward |first=Philip |date=2019 |title=Oecusse and the Sultanate of Occussi-Ambeno: Pranksterism, Misrepresentation and Micronationality |url=https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/49774 |journal=Small States & Territories |language=en |volume=2 |issue=2 |pages=183–194 |access-date=30 May 2021 |archive-date=20 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210420004141/https://www.um.edu.mt/library/oar/handle/123456789/49774 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 11 November 1999, over 600 Australian troops from 3RAR (Third Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment) deployed from Maliana in Timor-Leste proper to Oecusse to liberate the enclave. They stayed there until late February 2000, being replaced by Jordanian troops.{{citation needed|date=September 2015}}

==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.<ref>{{Cite web |title=ZEESM TL & RAEOA – ZEESM TL |url=https://www.zeesm.tl/en/about-zeesm-raeoa/ |url-status=dead |access-date=3 October 2017 |website=www.zeesm.tl |language=en-GB |archive-date=3 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003075644/https://www.zeesm.tl/en/about-zeesm-raeoa/ }}</ref> The President of RAEOA & ZEESM TL was Mari Alkatiri, a former Prime Minister of Timor-Leste.<ref>{{Cite web |date=14 September 2017 |title=East Timor Set to Swear in Mari Alkatiri as PM |url=http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/09/east-timor-set-swear-mari-alkatiri-pm-170914062920825.html |access-date=3 October 2017 |website=Al Jazeera |language=en |archive-date=3 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003075913/http://www.aljazeera.com/news/2017/09/east-timor-set-swear-mari-alkatiri-pm-170914062920825.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

The Timor-Leste 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.<ref name="Davidson 2017">{{Cite news |last=Davidson |first=Helen |date=25 May 2017 |title=Timor-Leste's Big Spending: A Brave Way to Tackle Economic Crisis or Just Reckless? |language=en |work=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/25/timor-leste-spending-big-economic-crisis |access-date=31 October 2018 |archive-date=31 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181031165638/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/25/timor-leste-spending-big-economic-crisis |url-status=live }}</ref> 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 Timor-Leste, not just those in Oecusse.<ref>{{Cite web |date=7 November 2015 |title=Prime Minister visits Oe-cusse Ambeno |url=http://timor-leste.gov.tl/?p=14166&n=1&lang=en |access-date=1 November 2018 |website=Government of Timor-Leste |language=en |archive-date=22 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191122132134/http://timor-leste.gov.tl/?p=14166&lang=en&n=1 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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.<ref name="Davidson 2017" /> 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.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Rose |first=Michael |date=2017 |title='Development', Resistance and the Geographies of Affect in Oecussi: Timor-Leste's Special Economic Zone (ZEESM) |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314031576 |journal=Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=201–215, at 212 |doi=10.1111/sjtg.12190 |bibcode=2017SJTG...38..201R |access-date=1 November 2018 |archive-date=7 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407074048/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314031576_%27Development%27_resistance_and_the_geographies_of_affect_in_Oecussi_Timor-Leste%27s_Special_Economic_Zone_ZEESM_%27Development%27_resistance_and_spirits |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to one commentator, many observers of Timor-Leste's strategic investment choices have wondered, "Why is the government of a country {{sic|comprised|hide=y| of}} [largely] subsistence farmers obsessed with glitzy prestige projects at the expense of more pressing needs such as health and agriculture?"{{sfn|Meitzner Yoder|2015|page=315}} 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{{clarify|date=January 2021}}; additionally, some aspects{{which|date=January 2021}} of the programme were modified in some significant detail{{vague|date=January 2021}} to accommodate deep and strongly expressed popular sentiments{{clarify|date=January 2021}}.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Meitzner Yoder |first=Laura S |title=Transformations in Independent Timor-Leste: Dynamics of Social and Cultural Cohabitations |date=2017 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=9781315534992|editor-last=Viegas|editor-first=Susana de Matos |location=London |language=en |chapter=Chapter 7: Reconceptualizing Land and Territory in Oecusse Ambeno Enclave's Special Economic Zone|editor-last2=Feijó|editor-first2=Rui Graça}}</ref>

==Administrative posts== thumb|Subdivisions of Oecusse thumb|Cities and rivers of Oecusse

Oecusse is divided into four administrative posts (formerly sub-districts):<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oe-Cusse Suco Reports |url=https://www.mof.gov.tl/about-the-ministry/statistics-indicators/sensus-fo-fila-fali/download-suco-reports/oe-cusse-suco-reports/?lang=en |website=Timor-Leste Ministry of Finance |language=en |access-date=27 July 2019 |archive-date=14 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191114203701/https://www.mof.gov.tl/about-the-ministry/statistics-indicators/sensus-fo-fila-fali/download-suco-reports/oe-cusse-suco-reports/?lang=en |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{HD of East Timor|title=Oecusse District|page=134}}</ref> *Nitibe *Oesilo *Pante Macassar (with capital Pante Macassar) *Passabe

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

==Demographics== ===Population=== According to the 2015 Census, Oecusse had a population of 68,913 people, divided into 14,345 households. The Census of 15 October 2022 gave a total of 80,176.<ref>National Institute of Statistics Timor-Leste, 2023.</ref>

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.

===Languages=== The native language of most residents is Uab Meto (Meto), often referred to by outsiders as Baikeno. Portuguese 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 until 1999, since then it has been almost completely replaced in this role by Tetum which is the primary language of government, education and public life in Timor-Leste and is spoken and understood in all but very remote areas of the SAR.

===Religion=== 99.3% of the inhabitants are Roman Catholic 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== [[File:Berlin Nakroma.JPG|thumb|upright=1.2|The ''Berlin Nakroma'']]

===Air=== The new Oecusse or Rota do Sandalo International Airport was inaugurated by East Timorese President Francisco Guterres on 18 June 2019<ref>{{Cite web |title=Oé-Cusse International Airport "Rota do Sândalo" (Sandalo Route) Has Been Inaugurated |url=https://www.zeesm.tl/en/oe-cusse-international-airport-rota-do-sandalo-sandalo-route-has-been-inaugurated/ |url-status=dead |access-date=4 July 2019 |website=ZEESM TL |language=en |archive-date=4 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704041812/https://www.zeesm.tl/en/oe-cusse-international-airport-rota-do-sandalo-sandalo-route-has-been-inaugurated/ }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Riska Rahman |date=21 June 2019 |title=After Oecusse Airport, Wika Eyes More in Timor Leste |language=en |work=The Jakarta Post |url=https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2019/06/21/after-oecusse-airport-wika-eyes-more-timor-leste.html |access-date=4 July 2019 |archive-date=4 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704023747/https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2019/06/21/after-oecusse-airport-wika-eyes-more-timor-leste.html |url-status=live }}</ref> and serves as the main gateway to Oecusse. The airport was previously an airstrip located at the edge of Pante Macassar and was refurbished at a cost of US$119 million.<ref>{{Cite web |date=19 June 2019 |title=Oecusse Airport Built by WIKA Has Been Inaugurated |url=https://www.idnfinancials.com/news/26143/oecusse-airport-built-wika-inaugurated |access-date=25 June 2019 |website=IDNFinancials |language=en |archive-date=4 July 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190704095727/https://www.idnfinancials.com/news/26143/oecusse-airport-built-wika-inaugurated |url-status=live }}</ref> Previously, there were six return flights a week to and from capital Dili.

===Road=== Main roads link Pante Macassar to Sacato 15&nbsp;km (10 miles) to the east, and Bobometo to the south-east, both of which are on the Indonesia–Timor-Leste border and are official border crossings into Indonesia.<ref name="immigration">{{Cite web |title=About Us |url=http://migracao.gov.tl/html/sub0101.php |access-date=11 June 2019 |website=Immigration Service of Timor-Leste |language=en |archive-date=18 June 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190618095935/http://migracao.gov.tl/html/sub0101.php |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Inauguration of Integrated Border Post- Sakato, Oecusi |url=https://www.mof.gov.tl/inauguration-of-integrated-border-post-sakato-oecusi/?lang=en |access-date=10 June 2019 |website=Timor-Leste Ministry of Finance |language=en |archive-date=16 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191116032332/https://www.mof.gov.tl/inauguration-of-integrated-border-post-sakato-oecusi/?lang=en |url-status=live }}</ref> 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 Timor-Leste proper via the border crossing at Mota'ain/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.

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 was inaugurated by the president of Timor-Leste, Francisco Guterres.<ref>{{Cite web |date=12 June 2017 |title=Inauguration of Noefefan Bridge in Oecusse Ambeno |url=http://timor-leste.gov.tl/?p=18300&n=1&lang=en |access-date=11 June 2019 |website=Government of Timor Leste |language=en |archive-date=19 November 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191119145646/http://timor-leste.gov.tl/?p=18300&lang=en&n=1 |url-status=live }}</ref> 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).<ref>{{Cite web |title=Noefefan Bridge Inaugurated |url=https://www.zeesm.tl/en/opened-noefefan-bridge-tono/ |url-status=dead |access-date=11 June 2019 |website=ZEESM TL |language=en |archive-date=25 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180825180227/https://www.zeesm.tl/en/opened-noefefan-bridge-tono/ }}</ref>

Roads also lead to minor border crossings in Passabe (with Haumeniana also in North Central Timor Regency) and Citrana (with Oepoli in Kupang Regency), mostly catering to crossings by residents of border villages.<ref name="immigration" />

===Sea=== The ferry ''Berlin Nakroma'' connects Oecusse to Dili, arriving twice a week on a journey which takes 12 hours.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Nakroma Ferry in Oecussi |url=https://www.lonelyplanet.com/timor-leste/oecussi/transportation/nakroma-ferry/a/poi-tra/1391976/1336628 |url-status=dead |access-date=3 October 2017 |website=Lonely Planet |language=en |archive-date=3 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171003124741/https://www.lonelyplanet.com/timor-leste/oecussi/transportation/nakroma-ferry/a/poi-tra/1391976/1336628 }}</ref>

== Notable people == <!---♦♦♦ Only add a person to this list if they already have their own article on the English Wikipedia ♦♦♦---> <!---♦♦♦ Please keep the list in alphabetical order by LAST NAME ♦♦♦---> * Cristina Amaral, first female pilot in East Timor * Arsenio Baro, politician * Noémia Sequeira, politician * Jorge Teme, politician and first Timorese diplomat to go to Australia

== See also == * Oecusse-Ambeno International Industrial Economic Zone

== Notes == {{notelist}}

== References == === Citations === {{Reflist|30em}}

=== Bibliography === {{refbegin}} *{{cite journal |last1=Amado |first1=Miguel |last2=Rodrigues |first2=Evelina |title=Sustainable Tourism Planning: A Strategy for Oecusse-Ambeno, East Timor |journal=Urban Science |date=2021 |volume=5 |issue=4 |page=73 |doi=10.3390/urbansci5040073 |url=https://www.mdpi.com/2413-8851/5/4/73/pdf |access-date=27 February 2022 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2021UrbSc...5...73A |archive-date=7 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407074051/https://mdpi-res.com/d_attachment/urbansci/urbansci-05-00073/article_deploy/urbansci-05-00073.pdf |url-status=live }} *{{cite report |last1=Bano |first1=Arsénio |author-link=Arsénio Bano |date=2013–2014 |title=Oecusse Special Economic Zones of Social Market Economy: First steps towards a new Oecusse |url=http://www.zeesm.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/ZEESM-Oecusse-Situation-Analysis.pdf |publisher=ZEESM |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140506005338/http://www.zeesm.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/ZEESM-Oecusse-Situation-Analysis.pdf |archive-date=6 May 2014 |page= |docket= |access-date=26 February 2022 }} *{{cite report |last1=Hosgelen |first1=Merve |editor1-last=Stern |editor1-first=Jeffrey |date=July 2017 |title=Special Administrative Region of Oé-Cusse Ambeno: An Alternative Development Model for Timor-Leste |url=https://www1.undp.org/content/dam/timorleste/docs/reports/DG/UNDP%20Report_ZEESM_FINAL%2020-7.pdf |publisher=UNDP Timor-Leste |access-date=13 March 2022 |archive-date=26 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220126060225/https://www1.undp.org/content/dam/timorleste/docs/reports/DG/UNDP%20Report_ZEESM_FINAL%2020-7.pdf |url-status=live }} *{{Citation |title=Lei N.º 3/2014 de 18 de Junho Cria a Região Administrativa Especial de Oe-Cusse Ambeno e estabelece a Zona Especial de Economia Social de Mercado |work=Jornal da República, Série I, N.° 21, 18 de Junho de 2014, 7334–7341 |url=http://www.mj.gov.tl/jornal/public/docs/2014/serie_1/SERIE1_NO_21.pdf}} *{{cite journal |last1=Meitzner Yoder |first1=Laura S. |title=The development eraser: fantastical schemes, aspirational distractions and high modern mega-events in the Oecusse enclave, Timor-Leste |journal=Journal of Political Ecology |date=1 December 2015 |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=299–321 |doi=10.2458/v22i1.21110 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2015JPolE..2221110M |url=https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/JPE/article/view/21110/0 |access-date=21 February 2022 |language=en |issn=1073-0451 |archive-date=21 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220221054045/https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/JPE/article/view/21110/0 |url-status=live }} *{{cite journal |last1=Meitzner Yoder |first1=Laura S. |title=Oecusse's Special Economic Zone and Local Governance |journal=State, Society & Governance in Melanesia |date=July 2016 |issue=In Brief 2016/5 |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326586972 |access-date=21 February 2022 |publisher=Australian National University |author-mask=11 |archive-date=7 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407074053/https://www.researchgate.net/publication/326586972_Oecusse%27s_Special_Economic_Zone_and_Local_Governance |url-status=live }} *{{cite thesis |last=Rose |first=Michael Charles |date=October 2017 |title=Between ''kase'' (foreign) and ''meto'' (indigenous) Highland spirits and global aspirations in the Oecussi enclave |type=PhD thesis |chapter= |publisher=Australian National University |oclc= |url=https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/133761/1/Rose%20Thesis%202017.pdf |access-date=20 February 2022 |archive-date=20 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220220080827/https://openresearch-repository.anu.edu.au/bitstream/1885/133761/1/Rose%20Thesis%202017.pdf |url-status=live }} *{{cite web |last1=Rose |first1=Michael |title=Megaprojects before people in Oecussi |url=https://devpolicy.org/megaprojects-before-people-in-oecussi-20191119/ |website=Devpolicy Blog from the Development Policy Centre |access-date=21 February 2022 |date=18 November 2019 |author1-mask=10 |archive-date=7 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220407074057/https://devpolicy.org/megaprojects-before-people-in-oecussi-20191119/ |url-status=live }} *{{cite report |date=April 2002 |title=District Profile Oecussi Enclave |url=http://www.estatal.gov.tl/Documents/District_Development_Plans_and_Profiles/Oecusse/District_Profile_Oecussi_2002.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090328060909/http://www.estatal.gov.tl/Documents/District%20Development%20Plans%20and%20Profiles/Oecusse/District%20Profile%20Oecussi%202002.pdf |archive-date=28 March 2009 |publisher= |access-date=27 February 2022 |ref={{harvid|DPOE|2002}}}} *{{cite report |date=May 2016 |title=Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste: Oecusse Economic and Trade Potential |series=No: ACS18457 |chapter-url=https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/24726/Overview0of0Oe00long0term0potential.pdf?sequence=1 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=World Bank |chapter=Vol I: Overview of Oecusse Today & Long Term Potential |access-date=22 February 2022 |archive-date=22 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220222083136/https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/24726/Overview0of0Oe00long0term0potential.pdf?sequence=1 |url-status=live }} *{{cite report |date=May 2016 |title=Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste: Oecusse Economic and Trade Potential |series=No: ACS18457 |chapter-url=https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/24727/Detailed0analy0background0documents.pdf?sequence=1 |location=Washington, DC |publisher=World Bank |chapter=Vol II: Detailed Analysis and Background Documents |access-date=22 February 2022 |archive-date=10 February 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220210124820/https://openknowledge.worldbank.org/bitstream/handle/10986/24727/Detailed0analy0background0documents.pdf?sequence=1 |url-status=live }} *{{cite web |title=Supporting the Oe-Cusse RAEOA ZEESM |url=https://www.laohamutuk.org/econ/Oecussi/UNDP/UNDP-ZEESM10Jul2014en.pdf |publisher=UNDP-RAEOA ZEESM Partnership |type=PowerPoint presentation |access-date=21 February 2022 |date=10 July 2014 |archive-date=20 January 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220120024751/http://www.laohamutuk.org/econ/Oecussi/UNDP/UNDP-ZEESM10Jul2014en.pdf |url-status=live }} {{refend}}

==Further reading== {{refbegin}} * {{cite journal |author1=Laura S. Meitzner Yoder |title=The formation and remarkable persistence of the Oecusse-Ambeno enclave, Timor |journal=Journal of Southeast Asian Studies |date=29 April 2016 |volume=47 |issue=2 |pages=281–303 |doi=10.1017/S0022463416000084 |s2cid=156975625 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-southeast-asian-studies/article/abs/formation-and-remarkable-persistence-of-the-oecusseambeno-enclave-timor/E57D40FE03C22D0521A141364CB280C8|url-access=subscription }} * {{cite journal |last1=Sanchez |first1=Caitlin |last2=Carvalho |first2=Venancio Lopes |last3=Kathriner |first3=Andrew |last4=O’Shea |first4=Mark |last5=Kaiser |first5=Hinrich |title=First report on the herpetofauna of the Oecusse District, an exclave of Timor-Leste |journal=Herpetology Notes |date=2012 |volume=5 |pages=137–149 |url=https://www.academia.edu/2110413}} * {{cite report |date=September 2010 |title=Preparatory Survey Report on Oecusse Port Urgent Rehabilitation Project (Phase 2) in the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste |url=https://openjicareport.jica.go.jp/pdf/12010559_01.pdf |publisher=Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) / Japan Port Consultants |page= |docket=EID CR(1) 10-148 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20250210095407/https://openjicareport.jica.go.jp/pdf/12010559_01.pdf |archive-date=10 February 2025 |access-date=10 February 2025}} * {{cite web |url=https://www.files.ethz.ch/isn/116501/B104%20Timor-Leste.pdf |title=Timor-Leste: Oecusse and the Indonesian Border |publisher=International Crisis Group |date=20 May 2010}} {{refend}}

==External links== {{commons category|Oe-Cusse Ambeno}} {{wiktionary|Oecusse}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20051224113651/http://www.uccla.pt/oecussi.htm Union of Capital Cities of the Portuguese Language (in Portuguese)] *[https://oecussi.no.sapo.pt/ Association of Soldiers of Oecusse (in Portuguese)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160303205252/http://oecussi.no.sapo.pt/ |date=3 March 2016 }} *La'o Hamutuk: [http://www.laohamutuk.org/econ/Oecussi/ZEESMIndex.htm ''Special Economic Zone in Oecusse''] (in English & Tetum) *[http://www.oecusse.ga/ Oecusse Enclave] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141223123217/http://www.oecusse.ga/ |date=23 December 2014 }} *Official Timor-Leste Regional Governmental Website: for RAEOA and ZEESM TL: [https://www.oe-cusse.gov.tl/ Government of Oecusse Ambeno]

{{Portal bar|Asia|Geography}} {{Municipalities of Timor-Leste}}

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Category:Municipalities of Timor-Leste Category:Enclaves and exclaves Category:Indonesia–Timor-Leste border Category:Oecusse Category:Autonomous administrative divisions in Asia