The world’s most complex border?

[Treffie]

Without doubt, the winner of the most complicated political border is that between Belgium and the Netherlands in the municipality of Baarle-Hertog (2006 population of 2,306, area 7.48 km²). The international boundary between Baarle-Hertog in Belgium and Baarle-Nassau in the Netherlands surrounds 21 land parcels that are exclaves of Belgium, and has three more parcels along the border. There are another seven Belgian exclaves in the Netherlands and three others on the border. The largest, Zondereigen in the Belgian exclave town of Merksplas, even has Dutch "holes" within it! The Treaty of Maastricht in 1843 established the border by individually listing the nationality for 5732 parcels of land. Some houses are divided between the two countries. In the past, Dutch laws required restaurants to close earlier than Belgian. Diners could simply change their tables to the Belgian side at closing time. Fortunately, at least both sides now use the Euro. Dr. Map wonders which passport would be issued to someone born in a house that straddles the border!”





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[Odin]

[sean]

Belgium has some of the weirdest borders I have ever seen, honorable mentions go to the Swiss/Italian border, the 2nd order enclave in the UAE/Oman Border, and the clusterfuck that is the Tajikistan/Uzbekistan/Kyrgyzstan border.

Spoiler!

It's a leftover from medieval times, when the area was divided between the Barony of Breda and the Duke of Brabant. The Duke kept ownership over the land that was already someone else's and the land whose owners paid taxes directly to him and the Baron of Breda received the rest.

The Duke's part became Baarle-Hertog. The rest became Baarle-onder-Breda and is now called Baarle-Nassau. The uncultivated parts were a sort of gift for the Baron who then became an ally of the Duke of Brabant against the Duke of Holland.

This division was never solved, despite the two areas often falling underneath the same rulership. The current Dutch parts are those that fell under the Barony of Breda and the Belgian parts are those that fell under the Duchy.

The Dutch became independent due to a revolt against Spanish rule (the Spanish Habsburgs inherited the lands from a marriage to the Burgundian royal house). The mostly Catholic southern regions stayed under Spanish and later Austrian control.

The Napoleonic Wars however changed that, with the Austrian lands being annexed to France and the Netherlands being turned into a Republican satellite state. In the Congress of Vienna that ends the conflict, Austria relinquished control of the territories due to the difficulty and costs of administration, allowing the Dutch to gain control of the new territories.

Baarle-Nassau was part of the province of Noord-Brabant, while Baarle-Hertog was part of the province of Antwerpen. King William I cleared up many of the ugly borders at the time, but he experienced a lot of resistance in both provinces when he tried to resolve the enclave issue.

The Catholics aren't too pleased that they have to pay high taxes without fair representation, or William's increase of royal control, so they rebel and eventually secede. The Dutch tried to reconquer the land but the offensive is repulsed by the French, now under a constitutional monarch.

The province of Antwerpen seceded and took Baarle-Hertog with it, while Noord-Brabant remained Dutch. This was the last territorial change in this area.