Quirky International Borders

[Glow worm]

I've always been fascinated by some of the more unusual frontiers in the world and their history. The arrival of Google Earth has meant I've found a whole lot more since trawling atlases years ago.

Here's one I discovered only the other week. Pheasant Island is located on the Bidosa River between France and Spain. Every 6 months the island changes sovereignty. Between February 1st and July 31st, it forms a part of Spanish Territory, and from August 1st until January 31st, it is France. Here's a Google Earth pic showing it as Spanish (I must check on Aug 1st to see if they move the line!).
Edit- Apologies to any Basques- the island is Basque year round of course!

And another one- Baarle Nassau/ Baarle Hertzog - in the Netherlands. I discovered this one in an atlas as a kid and thought I'd love to go there one day. It consists of several Belgian exclaves of land within Dutch territory. In places there are islands of NL within the Belgian exclaves. It does your head in.

Here's the map from Google Earth (yellow lines = the borders). Most houses have flags on the front door so you know which country they belong to.

I finally cycled there 3 years ago and stopped for lunch at a cafe, I parked my bike next to my table- the bike was in Belgium, the table in NL. Hours of fun.

This hairdressers shop lies in both countries. It has both flags by the door and both a Dutch and Belgian Street number.

The enclaves and exclaves of Bangladesh/ India (100s) make the Baarle Nassau look tidy in comparison- maybe for another time. If anyone's still awake.
Any other examples?

 

[Milkfloat]

Point Roberts a pene-enclave in Canada belong to the USA. This caused us quite a headache in the digital mapping business. There are countless other examples, but this is the first we tackled.

For a really complicated example - think of Dahala Khagrabari - an piece of India, inside a Bangladeshi enclave, inside an Indian enclave which is inside Bangladesh. Lunkily about 5 years ago it moved to be Bangladeshi.

 

[Glow worm]

Point Roberts a pene-enclave in Canada belong to the USA. This caused us quite a headache in the digital mapping business. There are countless other examples, but this is the first we tackled.

View attachment 533744

For a really complicated example - think of Dahala Khagrabari - an piece of India, inside a Bangladeshi enclave, inside an Indian enclave which is inside Bangladesh. Lunkily about 5 years ago it moved to be Bangladeshi.

View attachment 533748

Brilliant - love it. Shame theymoved it !

I went to point Roberts a few years ago. I found a quiet spot with a gap in the fence and re- entered Canada illegally, for a few seconds then jumped back into the USA. I’m such a rebel!

seems in the west they stuck rigidly to the 49th parallel as the border come what may. Then they got to the Great Lakes area and thought f*** it from there on!

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

Hans Island is an island midway between Greenland and Canada. It is visited in alternate years by delegations from each country. When the Danish visit, they leave a bottle of Schnapps for the Canadians. When the Canadians visit, they leave a bottle of Canadian Club for the Danish

 

[Glow worm]

Llivia - a Spanish Catalan town entirely surrounded by French territory.

France and the Netherlands do share an international border. Only not in Europe. The island of Saint Martin (French) or Sint Maarten (Dutch) in the Carribean, is split right down the middle between both countries.

 

[Salty seadog]

I've always been fascinated by some of the more unusual frontiers in the world and their history. The arrival of Google Earth has meant I've found a whole lot more since trawling atlases years ago.

Here's one I discovered only the other week. Pheasant Island is located on the Bidosa River between France and Spain. Every 6 months the island changes sovereignty. Between February 1st and July 31st, it forms a part of Spanish Territory, and from August 1st until January 31st, it is France. Here's a Google Earth pic showing it as Spanish (I must check on Aug 1st to see if they move the line!).
Edit- Apologies to any Basques- the island is Basque year round of course!

View attachment 533735

And another one- Baarle Nassau/ Baarle Hertzog - in the Netherlands. I discovered this one in an atlas as a kid and thought I'd love to go there one day. It consists of several Belgian exclaves of land within Dutch territory. In places there are islands of NL within the Belgian exclaves. It does your head in.

Here's the map from Google Earth (yellow lines = the borders). Most houses have flags on the front door so you know which country they belong to.

View attachment 533736

I finally cycled there 3 years ago and stopped for lunch at a cafe, I parked my bike next to my table- the bike was in Belgium, the table in NL. Hours of fun.


View attachment 533740

This hairdressers shop lies in both countries. It has both flags by the door and both a Dutch and Belgian Street number.

View attachment 533742

The enclaves and exclaves of Bangladesh/ India (100s) make the Baarle Nassau look tidy in comparison- maybe for another time. If anyone's still awake.
Any other examples?

There are some bars and restaurants where the Dutch /Belgian border runs through. They have different rules regarding opening hours. I believe at 9 o'clock in the evening all patrons must move to the Belgian side of the restaurant to remain within the law.

I've been there a couple of times on my trips to the Netherlands.

 

[Donger]

The Belgian border with Germany is an interesting one. Near Roetgen there is a whole strip of land forming the site of a former railway line, which now counts as being in Belgium. This cuts through several German salients, leaving Germany on both sides of a strip of Belgium in several places. And that part of Belgium is German-speaking (if a railway line can be .... the nearby villages all form part of the Ost Kantons).

One of my favourite little enclaves is Campione d'Italia on the shores of Lake Lugano, opposite the town of Lugano and entirely within Switzerland. Now the site of a casino and very little else, it must have been an interesting place in WW2, being part of an Axis country inside a neutral one. I seem to recall there is also a tiny part of Germany on the banks of the Rhine near Schaffhausen in Switzerland that must have been in the same political position in the war.

 

[Once a Wheeler]

Martelange: the road is in Belgium, the gutter is the frontier, the filling stations are in Luxembourg. Guess where the petrol is cheaper:

 

[Glow worm]

The Hotel Arbezt - France - Switzerland

An Inn on the Franco- Swiss border somewhere near Geneva. Somehow, part of the downstairs bit lies in France, but the stairs lead to Swiss territory.

Why oh why did Steve McQueen not know about this place?! He could have just run up the stairs instead of faffing about with motorbikes and barbed wire.

From Wiki:

''During the German occupation of France in World War II, their troops were allowed to enter the French side of the hotel, but were strictly prohibited from crossing to the Swiss side. Since the stairway to the upper floor started in French territory but ended in Switzerland, the Germans were not permitted to access any of the upper rooms, which became a refuge for refugees and French Resistance members.[4] The hotel was chosen in 1962 for negotiation of the Évian Accords between France and Algeria, which resulted in the independence of the latter.[4]''

 

[And]

The Belgian border with Germany is an interesting one. Near Roetgen there is a whole strip of land forming the site of a former railway line, which now counts as being in Belgium. This cuts through several German salients, leaving Germany on both sides of a strip of Belgium in several places. And that part of Belgium is German-speaking (if a railway line can be .... the nearby villages all form part of the Ost Kantons).

Bit of a video here -

View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KEM_cp6hVeM

 

[And]

Bir Tawil is unclaimed, does this count as quirky?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bir_Tawil
(mind, if they found oil, gold or diamonds there, I'd bet it would become very popular)

 

[Seevio]

There's Lake Constance where Germany, Austria and Switzerland meet. They've basically just given up, waved vaguely in the general direction of the lake and said the border is somewhere over there.

 

[Blue Hills]

I am always fascinated by the bit of Spain in North Africa, I find it a bit hypocritical that they want Gibraltar back.

Apparently when the two football teams from Spanish North Africa play each other they can't fly direct, they have to fly to Spain and then back to the other team's ground in Africa.

More than a bit hypocritical. Pure bollocks of course.

 

[srw]

France and the Netherlands do share an international border. Only not in Europe. The island of Saint Martin (French) or Sint Maarten (Dutch) in the Carribean, is split right down the middle between both countries.

Neither are fully part of their parent countries. Whereas France and Brazil do share a regular international border - French Guiana has the same status in France as Paris or Lyon.

 

[Glow worm]

I am always fascinated by the bit of Spain in North Africa, I find it a bit hypocritical that they want Gibraltar back.

Apparently when the two football teams from Spanish North Africa play each other they can't fly direct, they have to fly to Spain and then back to the other team's ground in Africa.

Cueta and Melilla are the two largest pieces of Spanish territory on the Moroccan coast. There are also a number of small islands, under Spanish sovereignty. One, Peñón de Vélez de la Gomera is so close to the coast, a storm in 1934 created an isthmus that linked it to the mainland. You can theoretically stroll from Morocco, along the beach into Spain. Not sure what you do when you get there- the Spanish military occupy the 'island' and will probably have something to say about it!
The quoted article has a map showing the rest of the Spanish territories.