The Belgium–France border, or more commonly the Franco-Belgian border, separates

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to ...

and is long. Part of it is defined by the Lys river. The western end is at the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...

( near

De Panne De Panne (; french: La Panne ) is a town and a municipality located on the North Sea coast of the Belgian province of West Flanders. There it borders France, making it the westernmost town in Belgium. It is one of the most popular resort town des ...

and

Bray-Dunes Bray-Dunes (; vls, Bray-Duunn) is a commune in the Nord department in northern France. It is situated on the Belgian border, with Adinkerke being the closest Belgian town. It is the northernmost commune and the northernmost point in all of Fr ...

). The eastern end is at the Belgium–France–Luxembourg

tripoint A tripoint, trijunction, triple point, or tri-border area is a geographical point at which the boundaries of three countries or subnational entities meet. There are 175 international tripoints as of 2020. Nearly half are situated in rivers, l ...

(at near

Athus Athus (german: Athem, lb, Attem, wa, Atu) is a part of Aubange city Wallonia and a district of the municipality of Aubange, located in the province of Luxembourg, Belgium. It is located in the far south of the country, just near the borders w ...

and Mont-Saint-Martin). The straight distance between these points is . Since 1995 Belgium and France have been parts of the

Schengen Area The Schengen Area ( , ) is an area comprising 27 European countries that have officially abolished all passport and all other types of border control at their mutual borders. Being an element within the wider area of freedom, security and ...

. This means there are no permanent border controls at this border, but there have been temporary controls. The Belgian side of the border is shared by, from north to south, the provinces of

West Flanders West Flanders ( nl, West-Vlaanderen ; vls, West Vloandern; french: (Province de) Flandre-Occidentale ; german: Westflandern ) is the westernmost province of the Flemish Region, in Belgium. It is the only coastal Belgian province, facing the No ...

(

Flemish Region The Flemish Region ( nl, Vlaams Gewest, ),; german: Flämische Region usually simply referred to as Flanders ( nl, link=no, Vlaanderen ) ; german: link=no, Flandern is one of the three regions of Belgium—alongside the Walloon Region and ...

) and Hainaut,

Namur Namur (; ; nl, Namen ; wa, Nameur) is a city and municipality in Wallonia, Belgium. It is both the capital of the province of Namur and of Wallonia, hosting the Parliament of Wallonia, the Government of Wallonia and its administration. Na ...

and

Luxembourg Luxembourg ( ; lb, Lëtzebuerg ; french: link=no, Luxembourg; german: link=no, Luxemburg), officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, ; french: link=no, Grand-Duché de Luxembourg ; german: link=no, Großherzogtum Luxemburg is a small lan ...

(

Walloon Region Wallonia (; french: Wallonie ), or ; nl, Wallonië ; wa, Waloneye or officially the Walloon Region (french: link=no, Région wallonne),; nl, link=no, Waals gewest; wa, link=no, Redjon walone is one of the three regions of Belgium—alo ...

). The French side of the border is shared by, from north to south, the departments of Nord and Aisne (region of Hauts-de-France) and Ardennes,

Meuse The Meuse ( , , , ; wa, Moûze ) or Maas ( , ; li, Maos or ) is a major European river, rising in France and flowing through Belgium and the Netherlands before draining into the North Sea from the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta. It has a t ...

and

Meurthe-et-Moselle Meurthe-et-Moselle () is a department in the Grand Est region of France, named after the rivers Meurthe and Moselle. It had a population of 733,760 in 2019.Grand Est Grand Est (; gsw-FR, Grossa Oschta; Moselle Franconian/ lb, Grouss Osten; Rhine Franconian: ''Groß Oschte''; german: Großer Osten ; en, "Great East") is an administrative region in Northeastern France. It superseded three former administra ...

). The limits of the border are outlined in the 1820

Treaty of Kortrijk A treaty is a formal, legally binding written agreement between actors in international law. It is usually made by and between sovereign states, but can include international organizations, individuals, business entities, and other legal perso ...

, agreed between France and the then-

United Kingdom of the Netherlands The United Kingdom of the Netherlands ( nl, Verenigd Koninkrijk der Nederlanden; french: Royaume uni des Pays-Bas) is the unofficial name given to the Kingdom of the Netherlands as it existed between 1815 and 1839. The United Netherlands was cr ...

. Belgium inherited the border upon its independence, which consists of a number of border posts. Maintenance of and disputes concerning the border are managed by a mixed Franco-Belgian border delimitation commission, which is convened when required. A commission was convened in 2000 concerning the maintenance of the border posts between France and the Belgian province of

. On 4 May 2021, a Belgian farmer moved one of the border posts which was in the path of his tractor, inadvertently shifting the Belgian border approximately 2.2 metres (7.5 feet) into France. Luxemburgischer-Grenzpfahl

References

European Union internal borders Borders of Belgium Borders of France International borders {{Belgium-geo-stub

See also

References