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Baarle, The Netherlands / Belgium

Baarle is a town in the municipalities of Baarle-Hertog and Baarle-Nassau — the Netherlands and Belgium, respectively.

Yes — one town, two municipalities (and, yes — two countries.)

The property lies entirely inside the borders of The Netherlands — the Belgian parts being enclaves that belong to the Belgian province of Antwerp.

But there's more. Those enclaves, the Belgian parts, which number 22 in just the space of any normal small town, also include some tiny Dutch enclaves. Parts of the Netherlands are nested within parts of Belgium which are nested within the national borders of the Netherlands.

There are buildings that are split by national borders. One can see the modern status of land-use, compared to borders, on Google Earth.

One farmer's field has a patch of The Netherlands within it. There's nothing there, only a field — and a national border delineating an awkward rectangle within it. Presumably this has little effect upon the operation of the farm.

There are houses in Baarle where the kitchen is in a different country than the living room. The nationality of the house, and its residents, is determined by the address of the front door.

But there are cases where a house has a front door in each country — which has led to some legal complications, including difficult questions about smuggling.


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