Enclaves Of The World

Europe and perhaps the world’s most famous enclaves are the municipalities of Baarle-Nassau and Baarle-Hertog. These are located on the border between The Netherlands and Belgium south of the Dutch city of Tilburg. Baarle-Hertog consists of 22 Belgian exclaves surrounded by Dutch territory. These cover a total of 2.34 km� and have a population of about 2,200.

Baarle-Nassau consists of eight Dutch exclaves, seven of which are embodied within the Belgian exclaves of Baarle-Hertog. These enclaves within enclaves are known as counter-enclaves. The eighth enclave is situated in Belgium just south of the border, north-west of Ginhoven. These cover a total of 0.15 km� and have a population of about 130 engaged mostly in agriculture. Tourism has become the major economic activity in the village areas with increasing numbers of people attracted to Baarle by the complexity of its borders. To make the enclaves’ borders more visible to the visitor, metal disks have been fixed to form dotted lines on the roads. The boundaries on the footpaths have been delineated by grey stones with inset white crosses.

In 1198 the Lord of Breda (Godfried Ivan Schoten) made a land deal with the Duke of Brabant to help defend Breda against threats by the Count of Holland (Dirk VII). The Duke granted Godfried the loan of Breda as a feudal tenant and the territory of Baarle was added to Breda. However, the Duke retained many cultivated areas for himself because of the taxes these generated. From that moment, Baarle was divided in two different parts - Baarle of the Duke of Brabant (in Dutch - Hertog van Brabant) and Baarle of Breda. The people started talking about Baarle of the 'Hertog' and Baarle of 'Breda'. The latter became known as Baarle of 'Nassau' when Engelbrecht van Nassau became Lord of Breda in 1404. And so it is that this strange situation remains in Baarle. Even the Westphalian Peace of 1648, Napoleon in 1795, the independence of Belgium in 1839, two world wars and the European Union haven’t been able to change the situation in Baarle.�

Map of the Netherlands showing the location of the Baarle enclaves

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Map showing Baarle enclaves �������(Source: Whyte)

Map of the main Baarle complex showing enclaves H1 – 16 and N1 – 7. Belgian territory is labelled ‘H’, bordered in blue and shaded pink. Dutch territory within these Belgian enclaves is labelled ‘N’ and bordered in green. N1 – 7 are all counter enclaves.

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H18 Detail��������(Source: Jan Krogh’s Geosite)

Enclaves H19 - H21 and N8 detail

Enclave H22 detail�������(Source: Jan Krogh’s Geosite)

Enclave H22 photograph������(Source: Jan Krogh’s Geosite)�

Boundary Houses
Baarle’s intricate enclave situation developed in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries when the area was primarily used for agriculture with many of the parcels relating to paddocks and crops. Since then, the Baarle landscape has gradually changed to be more urban and former fields have been replaced with houses, fences and roads. This often occurred without regard to the actual boundaries between Baarle Hertog and Baarle Nassau. It appears that it was often easier to establish developments in an orderly fashion rather than to fit the convoluted enclave framework. Today many of the properties do not align with the borders but rather conform to more sensible and practical street designs. It follows that many properties are bisected by what are now international boundaries leading to a range of potential administrative problems. In these cases, a practical outcome has been to allocate nationality based upon the country in which their front door is located. This, however, has lead to homeowners blocking doorways and opening new ones in order to seek some advantage from the alternative jurisdiction. And there are those who exploit the ambiguity of having their front door positioned so as to be divided by the frontier.

Photograph showing house divided by international boundary

H13 and H15 detail showing houses dissected by international border.�

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The nationality of houses cut by the border is determined by the location of their front door. (Source: Whyte)

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The Vennbahn is a Belgian railway line that cuts into German territory south of Aachen between the towns of R�tgen and Monschau. Because Belgium owns the land that the railway is on, it effectively separates five pieces of land from the rest of Germany. Typically this separation is only the width of the railway corridor.
The enclaves are called Munsterbildchen, R�tgener Wald, R�ckschlag, M�tzenich and Ruitzhof. Between 23 and 29,000 people live in the enclaves.

A German Act of 15 May 1882 prescribed construction of three railways: a main line from Aachen St Vith and Pr�m via Walheim, Raeren and Monschau; a secondary line from Raeren to Eupen; and a third from Walheim to Stolberg. These lines became known as the Vennbahn – meaning the ‘Fen Line’ because it traverses the Hohes Venn or Hautes Fagnes, some high but marshy terrain.

The German defeat in 1918 and the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles completely changed the political map of the region. The international border was moved eastward and former German territory including the district of Eupen and the district of Malm�dy became part of Belgium.

South of Raeren the situation was legally quite complex. Article 35 of the Versailles Treaty charged an international commission with fixing the exact frontiers to take into account local economic factors and communication links. The Raeren - Kalterherberg section of the Vennbahn was ceded provisionally to Belgium on 1 November 1921. Then on 6 November 1922 it provided for the incorporation into Belgium of the trackbed, with its buildings, of the railway from Raeren to Kalterherberg, which in crossing the districts of Aachen and of Monschau forms five enclaves which remain part of Germany.

The Vennbahn thus became a Belgian railway from Raeren south to Steinebr�ck, running as an exclave of Belgian territory between Raeren and Kalterherberg. It has five stations that serve settlements in a foreign country - Roetgen, Lammersdorf, Konzen, Monschau and Kalterherberg.

On 18 May 1940 Adolf Hitler ordered that the area be re-annexed by the German Reich and the Vennbahn was triumphantly returned to service as a wholly German line on 2 June 1940. However, after the defeat of Germany in 1945, the pre-war situation was re-instated.

Troispon Railway Station

Map of Belgium showing the location of the Vennbahn enclaves

The Vennbahn showing enclaves

Munsterbildchen, R�tgener Wald, R�ckschlag and M�tzenich enclaves

Munsterbildchen and part R�tgener Wald detail

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R�ckschlag and part M�tzenich detail

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R�ckschlag Detail

Ruitzhof detail

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B�singen is a German exclave within Switzerland along the Rhine near Schaffhausen. It covers 7.6 km� in area and contains a population of about 1,500 people. B�singen has a mixed economy including service-related activities in the built up areas and agriculture.

B�singen’s development in the Middle Ages seems typical for Europe - it changed sovereignty many times as it was traded by its landowner, given as a gift to the Church and inherited.

B�singen was first mentioned in records in 1090 as “Bosinga” when Count Burkhardt von Nellenburg willed it to the Allerheiligen abbey in Schaffhausen. It passed through several important families until it was sold to the Habsburgs in 1465.

In 1651 Schaffhausen succeeded in buying B�singen from the Hapsburgs for 20,000 Gulden. A territorial dispute, however, between B�singen’s Lord Eberhard von Thurn saw Schaffhausen lose the territory in 1698. By 1723 Schaffhausen had managed to acquire vast surrounding territories save for B�singen. B�singen remained under von Thurn’s rule “to the eternal annoyance” of Schaffhausen.

This legacy of feudal Europe saw B�singen appear by 1770 as a territory under Austrian rule entirely surrounded by Switzerland. Along with Nellenburg, it then became the part of W�rttemberg and, later, Baden. Since 1871, B�singen has been part of Germany.

The Swiss canton of Schaffhausen last tried to buy B�singen during the Vienna Congress in 1814-15 but this failed. In 1835, B�singen was excluded from Germany’s customs territory and a long period of unclear border arrangements ensued.

This was finally resolved in 1964 when a special German-Swiss treaty saw the territory included into the Swiss customs zone. This has since proved to be a highly satisfactory and efficient model of enclave management. As such, B�singen does not annoy Schaffhausen any more.

In 1967, a nearby German enclave called Verenahof was transferred to Switzerland. Verenahof was a tiny enclave of 43 hectares containing just three farms with all residents being Swiss nationals. The transfer only occurred following numerous attempts since 1815 by Switzerland to acquire the territory.�(From Vinokurov: ‘Theory of Enclaves’ 2005)

Map of Switzerland showing the location of the B�singen and Campione D’it�lia enclaves

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Location of B�singen enclave east of Schaffhausen

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B�singen detail

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B�singen detail

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B�singen from the Rhine

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B�singen from the air������(Source: http://www.swisscastles.com.ce/)

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The town of Campione D’it�lia lies just south of Lugano on the shores of the lake of the same name about two kilometres inside Switzerland's borders. Campione D’it�lia is sovereign Italian territory, but completely surrounded by Swiss territory and has Swiss customs and postal borders. The enclave covers 1.7 km� and has a population of about 3,000.

The attractive lakeside town is a popular resort with Italians, Swiss and other Europeans. Consequently it commands high real estate values. Campione also makes a living by offering the advantages of a tax haven. Although part of Italy, it has no personal income or municipal taxes. Nor is Campione subject to any of Switzerland’s agreements with the United States and Canada regarding income tax.

At one time, Campione wanted to develop a casino to extract even greater revenues from the influx of people that would be draw from nearby countries. Although Italy supported the proposal, Switzerland, where gambling is prohibited, did not. A compromise was eventually reached and the casino opened albeit with restricted gambling opportunities for Swiss citizens.

Location map of Campione d'Italia��(Source: Collins Bartholomew Ltd 2004)

Campione D’it�lia detail

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Shoreline of Lake Lugano at Campione D’it�lia

Shoreline of Lake Lugano at Campione D’it�lia

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Entrance to Campione D’it�lia

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Ll�via is a Spanish exclave within France’s Pirineus region a few kilometres southeast of the Principality of Andorra. It covers 12.84 km2 in area and has a population of about 1,200.

In Roman times, the town was called Julia Livia and was the capital of the Cerdagne. In the Middle Ages, a now ruined castle was built on the hill above the village.

It was still an important town in this part of the Pyrenees by the time France and Spain were drafting a treaty to settle their border in 1659.

The treaty was intended to transfer all Spanish territories on the mountains' north slopes to France but did not exactly specify where the new frontier should be drawn. It stated that the border would follow the drainage divide between the two countries as much as practical and this would mean that 33 Spanish villages must become French.

The people of Ll�via objected to becoming French on the grounds that Ll�via was a city rather than a village, and that although the river S�gre runs through Ll�via after emerging from a spring on the northern French slope of the Pic de S�gre, it turns full circle and flows into Spain.

These arguments were supported and it allowed Ll�via and its surrounding pastures to remain temporarily as a Spanish enclave inside France. But 340 years later the enclave is still there.

As a compensation for becoming an enclave, Ll�via received a large cattle and forestry estate west of the lake of Bouillouses. The building of a French hotel on this property led to many civil court cases between France and Spain. As a result, the hotel will become Ll�vian property in 2030. Another area - to the east of the lake - was lost in 1831 by a court decision.

Ll�via is connected with Spain by a neutral road. In the 1970s, a crossing of a main French road was identified as a traffic hazard. The Spanish didn't accept the right of way of the French road and insisted on unhindered connection between Ll�via and the rest of Spain. French ‘Stop’ signs were often demolished during the squabble. In the end, the Spanish built a bridge. In 2001 a similar problem arose with another French road. This time, however, a roundabout was constructed.

Map of France showing the location of the Ll�via enclave

Location of the Ll�via enclave�����(Source: Collins Bartholomew Ltd 2004)

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Detail of Ll�via showing demarcation by 45 boundary markers

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Ll�via from the air

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Spain’s access road bridge under construction

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The Cypriot villages of Ormidhia and Xylotymbou are each surrounded by territory that belongs to the British Sovereign Base Area of Dhekelia. There is also a third Cypriot territory within the British Sovereign Base Area of Dhekelia. This is the Dhekelia Power Station area, which is itself divided by a British road into two parts. Of these, the northern part is an enclave. The southern part is located by the sea and therefore is not a true enclave.

Cyprus achieved independence from the United Kingdom in 1956 after a protracted struggle by Cypriots of Greek ancestry seeking unification with the Greece. The United Kingdom, however, retained two military base areas on a perpetual basis.

Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974 in response to Cypriots of Turkish ancestry being unhappy with the influence wielded by the majority Greek-speaking population.

United Nations intervention including the establishment of a buffer zone has quelled the situation since that time though it remains unresolved. The Turkish-speaking northern area has established a de facto government called Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus but this state is recognised by no countries other than Turkey.

And so it is today that the small island is controlled by four parties – Greek Cypriots, Turkish Cypriots, the United Kingdom and the United Nations.

Map of Cyprus showing the location of the UK base areas, enclaves and the UN buffer zone

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1959 map showing enclaves in the United Kingdom’s Dhekelia Sovereign Base Area

Ormidhia, Xylotymbou and Dhekelia Power Station detail

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