Baarle-Nassau


Baarle-Nassau is a municipality and town in the southern Netherlands, located in the province of North Brabant. It had a population of in. The town is the site of a complicated borderline between Belgium and Netherlands, with numerous small exclaves of Belgium, of which some contain counter-exclaves of the Netherlands.

Geography

The border with Baarle-Hertog, Belgium

Baarle-Nassau is closely linked, with complicated borders, to the Belgian exclaves of Baarle-Hertog. Baarle-Hertog consists of 26 separate parcels of land. Apart from the main parcel, known as Zondereigen and located north of the Belgian town of Merksplas, there are 22 Belgian exclaves in the Netherlands and three other parcels on the Dutch-Belgian border. There are also six Dutch exclaves located within the largest Belgian exclave, one within the second-largest, and an eighth within Zondereigen. The smallest Belgian parcel, H7, locally named De Loversche Akkers, measures.
The border's complexity results from numerous medieval treaties, agreements, land-swaps and sales between the Lords of Breda and the Dukes of Brabant. Generally speaking, predominantly agricultural or built environments became constituents of Brabant, while other parts devolved to Breda. These distributions were ratified and clarified as a part of the borderline settlements arrived at during the Treaty of Maastricht in 1843.
For clarification and the interest of tourists, the border is made visible on all streets with iron pins. This way it is always clear whether one is in Belgium or in The Netherlands. This is also visible on the house numbers: the style of house numbers is different in both countries and often one will find the Dutch or Belgian flag next to the number.
Outside of Belgium and the Netherlands, there is at least one other national counter-exclave at Nahwa, an enclave of the United Arab Emirates within an enclave of the Sultanate of Oman within the United Arab Emirates.

Localities

Netherlands enclaves

These are all part of Baarle-Nassau Commune.
Serial no. and local nameArea Notes

Belgian enclaves

These are all part of Baarle-Hertog Commune, and are surrounded by Baarle-Nassau Commune.
Serial no. and local nameArea Notes

Notable people