{"id":5522,"date":"2019-07-08T11:00:02","date_gmt":"2019-07-08T11:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/?p=5522"},"modified":"2019-08-10T12:23:30","modified_gmt":"2019-08-10T12:23:30","slug":"baarle-one-of-the-strangest-municipalities-on-earth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/dutch\/baarle-one-of-the-strangest-municipalities-on-earth\/","title":{"rendered":"Baarle – One of the strangest municipalities on Earth"},"content":{"rendered":"

If you dare to look closely at the map of Belgium, you find something weird: There is a little small bit in the north of the country that is surrounded by Dutch land, with no territory connecting it to Belgium! And it gets even more complicated… How did this exclave (or, enclave for the Netherlands) come about? Does it matter? Let’s talk about it.<\/p>\n

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Baarle-Hertog on the map of Belgium, with the Netherlands in the north. (Image by author based on image by NordNordWest at Commons.wikimedia.org under license CC BY SA 3.0)<\/p><\/div>\n

For other posts in the series Strange Places<\/em> in the Netherlands, click here.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Baarle-Hertog<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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The insanely complicated topography of Baarle (Image by Tos at Commons.wikimedia.org, public domain)<\/p><\/div>\n

This exclave is a\u00a0gemeente\u00a0<\/em>(municipality) in the\u00a0provincie\u00a0<\/em>(province) of\u00a0Antwerpen\u00a0<\/em>(Antwerp). It is surrounded by the Dutch gemeente <\/em>Baarle-Nassau. However, Baarle-Hertog is not even just one coherent piece that just happens to be outside of Belgium – it consists of 22<\/strong> exclaves. Yes. 22! And, as you can see on the map above,\u00a0Baarle-Hertog also houses exclaves from the Dutch Baarle-Nassau – 7 in total. And all of that on an\u00a0oppervlakte <\/em>(area) of just about 80 square kilometers (about 30 square miles) with fewer than 10,000 inwoners <\/em>(inhabitants).\u00a0This is all super confusing!<\/p>\n

With country borders like that, you can imagine that it is just a mess. Country borders pass through houses, which therefore need both a Belgian and a Dutch address. There are two bus lines, two police stations, two mayors. Though there are ways now that the\u00a0gemeentes\u00a0<\/em>work together. For example, the Belgian and Dutch police work together, where they surveil together in one bus.<\/p>\n