Baarle-Hertog | |||
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Municipality | |||
Former town hall
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Location in Belgium | |||
Coordinates: 51°27′N 04°56′E / 51.450°N 4.933°ECoordinates: 51°27′N 04°56′E / 51.450°N 4.933°E | |||
Country | Belgium | ||
Community | Flemish Community | ||
Region | Flemish Region | ||
Province | Antwerp | ||
Arrondissement | Turnhout | ||
Government | |||
• Mayor | Leo van Tilburg (CDK) | ||
• Governing party/ies | CDK | ||
Area | |||
• Total | 7.48 km2 (2.89 sq mi) | ||
Population (1 January 2016) | |||
• Total | 2,663 | ||
• Density | 360/km2 (920/sq mi) | ||
Postal codes | 2387 | ||
Area codes | 014 | ||
Website | Official website |
Baarle-Hertog (Dutch pronunciation: [ˌbaːrlə ˈɦɛrtɔx]) is a Flemish municipality of Belgium, much of which consists of a number of small Belgian exclaves in the Netherlands.
While some of its territory consists of exclaves in the Dutch province of North Brabant, it is part of the Belgian province of Antwerp. On 1 January 2006 Baarle-Hertog had a population of 2,306. The total area is 7.48 square kilometres (2.89 square miles) which gives a population density of 308 inhabitants per km² (798 inhabitants/sq mi).
Baarle-Hertog is noted for its complicated borders with Baarle-Nassau, Netherlands. In total it consists of 24 separate parcels of land. The main division of Baarle-Hertog is Zondereigen (named after its main hamlet), located north of the Belgian town of Merksplas. In addition there are twenty Belgian exclaves in the Netherlands and three other sections on the Dutch-Belgian border. There are also seven Dutch exclaves within the Belgian exclaves. Six of these Dutch enclaves are located within the largest Belgian enclave, and a seventh in the second-largest Belgian enclave. An eighth Dutch exclave is located nearby Ginhoven.
Some houses in the town of Baarle-Hertog/Baarle-Nassau are divided between the two countries. At one time, according to Dutch laws restaurants had to close earlier. For some restaurants on the border this simply meant that the customers had to move to a table on the Belgian side. The border's complexity results from a number of equally complex 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 and other parts devolved to Breda. These distributions were ratified and clarified as a part of the border settlements agreed under the Treaty of Maastricht in 1843.