Figure 33 Border in Baarle-Hertog, Municipality of Belgian

THE NETHERLANDS- BELGIUM BORDER

The Belgian-Dutch border is 450 kilometers long and runs east-west from the north of Belgium to the south of the Netherlands. It begins in the east on the Vaalserberg, a hill near Aachen in Germany that serves as a tripoint between the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany (the highest point in the Netherlands is 322 meters) and ends in the west, near the North Sea. The border was previously marked by 369 boundary markers placed at points where the border changed direction. Certain markings on the ground still demarcate the border between the two countries today. (Border: Belgium-Netherlands, n.d.)

Figure 33 Border in Baarle-Hertog, Municipality of Belgian

With the succession of the southern provinces of the Netherlands that became Belgium, the border between Belgium and the Netherlands was formed. Although the Belgian Revolution occurred in 1830 and was recognized by the Netherlands in 1839 with the Treaty of London, the border between the two countries was only delimited by the Boundary Treaty signed in the Hague on 5 November 1842 and the Maastricht Convention of 8 August 1843. The Hague Treaty defined the border in broad strokes, whereas the Maastricht Convention provided more specific details. A total of 365 border posts were built to mark the border. This border is notable for several features, the most notable of which are the enclaves around which border demarcation proved extremely difficult. The town of Baarle was situated in such a way that when the border was established in 1843, this portion of the agreement was left out. Baarle is now divided into two municipalities: Baarle-Hertog on the Belgian side and Baarle-Nassau on the Dutch side. (Kljajic, 2021)