Belgium–France border
A long line from the North Sea to Luxembourg with few natural features, fixed by a treaty signed at Kortrijk in 1820 and marked with stones dated 1819. It has barely moved since, except in 2021, when a Belgian farmer shifted one of the stones two metres into France.
Written from cited sourcesLast checked 30 September 2026Suggest a correction
See it on the globe:Belgium →France →
The Treaty of Kortrijk
After Napoleon’s defeat the new United Kingdom of the Netherlands gained Philippeville and Mariembourg from France, and kept the Duchy of Bouillon. On 28 March 1820 King Louis XVIII of France and King William I of the Netherlands concluded a treaty at Kortrijk that fixed the frontier in detail, based on surveys in six sectors from the Moselle to the North Sea. It also dealt with private property claims and navigation on the Lys.[2]
Belgium inherited the line on independence, and it has barely changed since. It is marked by heavy, tombstone-like blocks engraved with 1819, the year they were put in place.[2][1]
The farmer and the stone
For several years a group of local men in northern France walked the border checking each marker against an old map. In April 2021, in woods near the village of Bousignies-sur-Roc, they found one that looked wrong: a Belgian farmer had dug it up and moved it about 2 metres into France, apparently to make room for his tractor, enlarging his land and Belgium with it.[3][1]
The mayors of Erquelinnes on the Belgian side and Bousignies-sur-Roc on the French side said no further action would be taken if the farmer put the stone back.[1]
“We have no interest in expanding the town, or the country.”[1]
Timeline
More borders
Sources
- [1]
- [2]‘Une manière plus précise et invariable’: Het Verdrag van Kortrijk van 28 maart 1820 en de Frans-Belgische grens, tweehonderd jaar later · Vrije Universiteit Brussel research portal (abstract)
- [3]A farmer moved a 200-year-old stone, and the French-Belgian border · The New York Times, via Gulf News · 6 May 2021
Map geometry from Natural Earth via world-atlas. See credits.