Baarle- Hertog

Baarle-Hertog is a municipality in Flanders, Belgium. While some of its territory consists of exclaves in the Dutch province of North Brabant, it is part of the Belgian province of Antwerp. On January 1, 2006 Baarle-Hertog had a total population of 2,306. The total area is which gives a population density of 308 inhabitants per km² (798 inhabitants/sq mi).

Geography

Border with Baarle-Nassau, Netherlands

Baarle-Hertog is noted for its complicated borders with Baarle-Nassau, Netherlands. In total it consists of 24 separate parcels of land. The main division of Baarle-Hertog is Zondereigen(after it main hamlet) located north of the Belgian town of Merksplas. In addition there are twenty Belgian exclaves in the Netherlands and three other sections on the Dutch-Belgian border. There are also seven Dutch exclaves within the Belgian exclaves. Six of them are located in the largest one and a seventh in the second-largest one. An eighth Dutch exclave is located nearby Ginhoven.

Some houses in the region of Baarle-Hertog/Baarle-Nassau are divided between the two countries. There was a time when according to Dutch laws restaurants had to close earlier. For some restaurants on the border it meant that the clients simply had to change their tables to the Belgian side. The border's complexity results from a number of equally complex 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 and 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.