Dear MEL Topic Readers,
This town is in two countries
Is there a part of another country in your
town? Enclave is a part of a country that is surrounded by another country. For
example, West Berlin was an enclave which comprised the western part of the
city of Berlin for four decades during the Cold War. In this case, the enclave
was surrounded by tall concrete walls that prevented people from crossing the
border. Actually, there are quite a number of enclaves in the world beyond
national, state, or district borders, most of which aren’t usually
distinguished or recognized.
Baarle-Hertog is one such enclave in The Netherlands. The town consists of 24 small Belgian exclaves, all of which are
within the Netherlands. These enclaves were created after the Treaty of Maastricht
in 1843. Unlike West Berlin, all of the 2,700-or-so residents and any visitors
can walk across the complex borders freely, some of which go through streets
and even inside shops and cafes, thanks to the Schengen Agreement. So, you can
have lunch at a Belgium restaurant, have coffee at a Dutch cafe, and do groceries
at a Belgium supermarket, and sleep in a bed in the Netherlands.
Enjoy watching the video and learn about this
Belgium enclave in the Netherlands.
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