A town in two countries.

PositionGEOGRAPHY - Baarle, Belgium - Brief article

At cafe Den Engel in the town of Baarle, you can take a bite of your meal in the Netherlands and chew it in Belgium--if you lean a few inches to the side. Located about 65 miles south of Amsterdam, Baarle is sliced and diced by the world's craziest stretch of international border (see map). It zigzags through streets, stores, and even homes. The layout dates to the 12th century, when wars and land feuds kept altering the dividing line between the properties of rival noble families. After Belgium seceded from the Netherlands in 1830, those lines became permanent borders, but a number of enclaves--isolated parts of one nation's territory surrounded by the land of another nation--remained. Today, Baarle lies...

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