[2] Oecusse is the traditional name of Pante Macassar, the present day capital of the special administrative region, and its environs.

[3] The historic Timorese empire that occupied most of the territory of the present day SAR was known as Ambeno, and was centred in Tulaica and Nunuhenu [de].

[9] 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.

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.

[17] Close to the SAR's northeastern border, within the Pante Macassar administrative post, is the Sapu [ceb; de] (Fatu Nipane) (1,259 m (4,131 ft) AMSL).

Also disputed are the 1,069 ha (2,640 acres) 'Citrana Triangle', the town of Naktuka [de] (Nitibe) and Batek Island (or Fatu Sinai), 12 km (7.5 mi) off the coast of the SAR's westernmost point.

The Oecusse Digital Centre (ODC) was officially granted Free Trade Zone (FTZ) status in December 2024, establishing it as a strategic hub for international business and investment.

The ODC aims to position Oecusse SAR as a regional leader in digital transformation by offering a fully integrated, technology-driven ecosystem.

The initiative is aligned with the government’s vision to enhance economic diversification, improve public sector efficiency, and promote transparency and financial inclusion through digitalization.

The center's operations will be fully powered by ODZT, a next-generation blockchain-based payment network, enabling secure, fast, and cost-effective cashless transactions.

ODC is being developed in collaboration with key international stakeholders, including financial institutions, technology providers, and regulatory bodies.

These partnerships aim to ensure the successful implementation of cutting-edge solutions and adherence to global standards in financial services and technology.

In about 1556, the Dominican friar António Taveiro, operating from a base on Solor, started missionary work on the north coast of Timor.

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.

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 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.

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.

[citation needed] Articles 5 and 71 of the 2002 constitution provide that Oecussi Ambeno be governed by a special administrative policy and economic regime.

A national development programme to implement governmental policy, called ZEESM TL (Special Zones of Social Market Economy of Timor-Leste) is in place.

[38] 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.

[40] 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.

[41] According to one commentator, many observers of East Timor's strategic investment choices have wondered, "Why is the government of a country comprised of [largely] subsistence farmers obsessed with glitzy prestige projects at the expense of more pressing needs such as health and agriculture?

"[42] 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.

of the programme were modified in some significant detail[vague] to accommodate deep and strongly expressed popular sentiments[clarification needed].

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 East Timor and is spoken and understood in all but very remote areas of the SAR.

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'.

[52] 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).