Baarle

Baarle (Dutch pronunciation: [ˈbaːrlə] ) is a village in Northwestern Europe which consists of a patchwork of Belgian and Dutch territories. The Belgian parts of the village are called Baarle-Hertog and the Dutch elements are called Baarle-Nassau. The Belgian part includes 16 exclaves within Dutch territory. The exclaves, in turn, surround seven Dutch areas. Belgian territory also surrounds an eighth Dutch area near Ginhoven. In 1995, the border was finalized to include a formerly neutral grassland. Baarle also includes a quadripoint shared by two of the exclaves. The line of the border means that some buildings (for instance, a branch of the retail store Zeeman) straddle both countries. For these properties, the voordeurregel (literally: "front door rule") policy applies: their address lies in the country that contains their front door. The exception is a house on Loveren Street with both Belgian (No. 2) and Dutch (No. 19) house numbers, whose front door is on the border line itself. For convenience, every house number plaque shows a national flag.