3 ms·

I also feel like the "real" border is a line in a GIS database. Sure, the stone is supposed to be the border based on a 19th century treaty but we all know a 21

I also feel like the "real" border is a line in a GIS database. Sure, the stone is supposed to be the border based on a 19th century treaty but we all know a 21st century government is not going to actually treat the stone's placement as the official border.

bellyfullofbac 5y ago
If the stone is the legal marker, take it on a plane to China, mess up all the nice polygons...
- sellyme 5y ago
  I don't think China would take too kindly to Belgium invading them, but maybe they'll be so confused that it will work.
stereo 5y ago
The real border is in the treaty. They describe geographical features that have sometimes moved ("the river x"), don't exist anymore ("the big oak tree") or take a lot of time to rediscover ("the field belonging to the widow soandso"). The stone is often only near the border - if the border is a path in a forest, you're not going to plonk it down in the middle of the path. The gis database for administrative boundaries in Luxembourg[0] gets updated once a week, because the borders are based on cadastral measurements, which have been constantly updated since the 19th century. There's an error in every measurement, the idea is that over time it will average itself out. [0] https://data.public.lu/fr/datasets/limites-administratives-du-grand-duche-de-luxembourg/ https://data.public.lu/fr/datasets/limites-administratives-d...
- kazen44 5y ago
  some borders are also based on really, really old treaties in europe. A lot of borders in regards to provinces are based on old counties and baronies for example. Baarle-hertog/baarle-nassau being a famous example of the inconvenice it results in. Prior to world war 2, this was also the case inside germany, considering many Lander still had lands all over the place (especially prussia) which made governance a hassle.

3 ms·

I also feel like the "real" border is a line in a GIS database. Sure, the stone is supposed to be the border based on a 19th century treaty but we all know a 21

by BitwiseFool 5y ago

bellyfullofbac 5y ago
If the stone is the legal marker, take it on a plane to China, mess up all the nice polygons...
- sellyme 5y ago
  I don't think China would take too kindly to Belgium invading them, but maybe they'll be so confused that it will work.
stereo 5y ago
The real border is in the treaty. They describe geographical features that have sometimes moved ("the river x"), don't exist anymore ("the big oak tree") or take a lot of time to rediscover ("the field belonging to the widow soandso"). The stone is often only near the border - if the border is a path in a forest, you're not going to plonk it down in the middle of the path. The gis database for administrative boundaries in Luxembourg[0] gets updated once a week, because the borders are based on cadastral measurements, which have been constantly updated since the 19th century. There's an error in every measurement, the idea is that over time it will average itself out. [0] https://data.public.lu/fr/datasets/limites-administratives-du-grand-duche-de-luxembourg/ https://data.public.lu/fr/datasets/limites-administratives-d...
- kazen44 5y ago
  some borders are also based on really, really old treaties in europe. A lot of borders in regards to provinces are based on old counties and baronies for example. Baarle-hertog/baarle-nassau being a famous example of the inconvenice it results in. Prior to world war 2, this was also the case inside germany, considering many Lander still had lands all over the place (especially prussia) which made governance a hassle.