I thought that this was a spoof article at first, but apparently there's a tiny bit of Belgium inside an enclave of Holland that lies within a parcel of Belgium that's within the borders of Holland. (I think).
I remember a Radio 4 program many years ago talking about this at election time. The town there has two mayors, one belgian and one dutch, and of course one of the countries has compulsory voting which adds even more of a weird slant to it all (as if it wasn't strange enough).
You get things like the house next door being in a different country...
I suppose, when it comes down to it, in historical terms its not so strange, its only since the rise of the nation state that we think of states with defined borders and being totally seperate...
Before nineteenth and twentieth century reorganisations there were lots of British exclaves, where for obscure historical reasons detached areas of one county were surrounded by the territory of another.
That's weirder than that part of Russia west of the Baltic states.
ReplyDeleteI remember a Radio 4 program many years ago talking about this at election time.
ReplyDeleteThe town there has two mayors, one belgian and one dutch, and of course one of the countries has compulsory voting which adds even more of a weird slant to it all (as if it wasn't strange enough).
You get things like the house next door being in a different country...
I suppose, when it comes down to it, in historical terms its not so strange, its only since the rise of the nation state that we think of states with defined borders and being totally seperate...
Before nineteenth and twentieth century reorganisations there were lots of British exclaves, where for obscure historical reasons detached areas of one county were surrounded by the territory of another.
ReplyDeleteThis is why we have the EU!
ReplyDelete