It comprises three small exclaves of the canton (the smallest of which is a single monastery), a few kilometers northeast of the rest of Appenzell Innerrhoden.

Around the time that the church was built (finished in 1655) Oberegg had grown to encompass the region surrounding the village.

When the canton of Appenzell was divided in 1597 into a Catholic and a Protestant part of the canton, the Catholic majority of Hirschberg wanted to stay with Innerrhoden, while the Protestant minority wanted to go to Ausserrhoden.

In the division of Appenzell (known as the Landteilungsbrief, literally Land division letter or treaty), the land owned by the Protestants was separated from Hirschberg and given to the Protestant Ausserrhoden, where it became the municipality of Reute.

[3] Oberegg has an area, as of 2011[update], of 14.7 square kilometers (5.7 sq mi).

[4] The district is the outermost portion of the half-canton toward the Rhine valley (German: Rheintal).

It consists of the village of Oberegg and the hamlets of Büriswilen, Kapf, Eschenmoos, Sankt Anton and numerous individual farm houses.

The blazon of the municipal coat of arms is Impaled per chevron Sable a Mullet Or and Vert a Cross couped pattee Argent and of the last a Deer Gules trippant on a Mount of 3 Coupeaux Vert.

On the left hand side there is a silver cross on a green background at the bottom.

On the right hand side, the bottom of the coat of arms shows three mounts in green.

[9] About 67.6% of the total households were owner occupied, or in other words did not pay rent (though they may have a mortgage or a rent-to-own agreement).

[4] The historical population is given in the following chart:[1][12] In the 2007 federal election the CVP received 90.13% of the vote.

[4] There were 876 residents of the district who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 39.5% of the workforce.

In the tertiary sector; 42 or 27.1% were in the sale or repair of motor vehicles, 19 or 12.3% were in the movement and storage of goods, 24 or 15.5% were in a hotel or restaurant, 4 or 2.6% were in the information industry, 6 or 3.9% were the insurance or financial industry, 11 or 7.1% were technical professionals or scientists, 26 or 16.8% were in education and 10 or 6.5% were in health care.

[4] From the 2000 census[update], 1,269 or 70.7% were Roman Catholic, while 348 or 19.4% belonged to the Swiss Reformed Church.