265px|thumb|Topographic map of the municipality of Baarle-Nassau, June 2015

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 the Netherlands: it encloses 22 small exclaves of the Belgian town Baarle-Hertog, of which the two largest contain seven counter-enclaves of Baarle-Nassau, and the main body of Belgium contains another.

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 , 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 (Baarle-Hertog) or in the Netherlands (Baarle-Nassau). This is also visible on the house numbers: the style of house numbers is different in both countries, and often the Dutch or Belgian flag next to the house number indicates which country it belongs to.

none|365px|thumb|Belgian and Dutch territory in Baarle-Nassau

230px|right|thumb|Border between Netherlands and Belgium in Baarle-Nassau.

Localities

  • Baarle-Nassau (population: 5,330)
  • Ulicoten (1,110)
  • Castelré (140)

List of enclaves

Dutch enclaves

These are all part of Baarle-Nassau municipality.

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:left; font-size:87%; border:1; cellpadding:5; cellspacing:0;"

|- bgcolor="#ececec"

!scope="col" width="275px"|Serial no. and local name

!scope="col" width="50px" data-sort-type="number"|Area (ha)

!area

acre

! scope="col" width="525px" class="unsortable" |Notes

|-

| N1, ||5.3667

|13.2617||Counter-enclave surrounded by Belgian exclave H1, in Baarle-Hertog; contains a mix of dwellings and farmland; boundary of N1 and H1 runs through one building.

|-

| N2, ||1.3751

|3.3981||Counter-enclave surrounded by Belgian exclave H1, in Baarle-Hertog; contains 8 dwellings.

|-

| N3, ||0.2863

|0.7075||Counter-enclave surrounded by Belgian exclave H1, in Baarle-Hertog; boundary of N3 and H1 bisects the loading dock of a liquor store.

|-

| N4, ||1.2324

|3.0454||Counter-enclave surrounded by Belgian exclave H1, in Baarle-Hertog; boundary of N4 and H1 runs through a warehouse, with vacant Dutch land to the rear of the warehouse.

|-

| N5, ||1.9212

|4.7475||Counter-enclave surrounded by Belgian exclave H1, in Baarle-Hertog; boundary of N5 and H1 runs through a furniture showroom, a shed and a barn.

|-

| N6, ||1.4527

|3.5898||Counter-enclave surrounded by Belgian exclave H1, in Baarle-Hertog; consists of farmland with two buildings.

|-

| N7, ||0.5812

|1.4363||Counter-enclave surrounded by Belgian Oordeel exclave H8, in Baarle-Hertog; occupies part of a field.

|-

| N8, ||2.8528

|7.0496||Farmland enclave situated within Zondereigen, Belgium, less than 50 meters south of the Dutch border.

|-

|}

Belgian enclaves

These are all part of Baarle-Hertog municipality, and are surrounded by Baarle-Nassau municipality (Netherlands).

{| class="wikitable sortable" style="text-align:left; font-size:87%; border:1; cellpadding:5; cellspacing:0;"

|- bgcolor="#ececec"

!scope="col" width="350px"|Serial no. and local name

It shares, with Baarle-Hertog, a joint library with Belgian and Dutch staff.

Notable people

  • Petrus Christus ( in Baarle – 1475/1476) an Early Netherlandish painter; was a leading painter after the death of Jan van Eyck
  • Jan Hendrikx (1944–2021) a former Dutch politician, mayor of Baarle-Nassau 1990–2012

<gallery mode="packed">

File:Baarle Nassau, Onze Lieve Vrouw van Altijddurende bijstand foto5 2010-10-13 11.43.JPG|Baarle-Nassau, church

File:Baarle-Nassau Rathaus.jpg|Baarle-Nassau, town hall

File:Grensovergang Poppel-Baarle.jpg|Grensovergang Poppel-Baarle

File:P1020712Baarle-Nassau.JPG|Baarle-Nassau, bij Singel, water pump

</gallery>

References

  • Official website Baarle-Nassau
  • Official website Baarle-Hertog
  • The Baarle Enclaves outlined with Maps
  • Photograph of H-22, the smallest enclave of B.-Hertog
  • Baarle-Nassau / Baarle-Hertog (with maps)
  • Photos from Baarle-Nassau/Hertog