THE BAARLE TOWN Because of the region's extremely complicated borders, many buildings and streets in the town of Baarle are located in both the Netherlands and Belgium. This unusual border zigzags through town, forming an oddly shaped Belgian enclave that somehow contains even smaller parcels of Dutch land. From the ground, Baarle appears normal and is similar to other smaller settlements along the Dutch-Belgian border. Visitors will notice, however, that many streets in the village have lines denoted by crosses that run between slabs denoted by the letters B and NL. These markings delineate where one country ends and another begins, reminding anyone who passes over them that they have entered a different sovereign state entirely. These lines are quite common to run straight into buildings or lie horizontally across roads, dividing public and private property right down the middle. Fortunately, the Netherlands and Belgium are both members of the Schengen Area, which means their borders are completely seamless, allowing visitors (and residents) to walk through Baarle without stopping for passport checks. (Kljajic, 2021) The town is divided into two municipalities, Baarle-Nassau and Baarle-Hartog, that are administered by the Netherlands and Belgium, respectively. Because its Belgian sections are approximately five kilometres from Belgium, they are referred to as an enclave. To complicate matters further, several stretches of Belgian land in Baarle encircle plots claimed by the Netherlands, creating enclaves within enclaves.
Figure 35 The Belgian-Dutch Border at different locations of Baarle town
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