Définition

From Wikipedia [2026-03-24] : “A boundary marker, border marker, boundary stone, or border stone is a robust physical marker that identifies the start of a land boundary or the change in a boundary, especially a change in direction of a boundary. There are several other types of named border markers, known as boundary trees, pillars, monuments, obelisks, and corners. Border markers can also be markers through which a border line runs in a straight line to determine that border. They can also be the markers from which a border marker has been fixed.”

Contexte historique

La frontière entre la Belgique et la France, longue d’environ 620 km, a été officiellement délimitée par le Traité de Courtrai, signé en 1820. Ce traité a établi les bases de la frontière actuelle, en prévoyant la pose de bornes en pierre pour matérialiser la ligne ou en se référant à des bornes plus anciennes. Il a été conclu entre la France et les Pays-Bas, et concernait la délimitation entre, d’une part, le Royaume de France et, d’autre part, le Royaume des Pays-Bas et le Grand-Duché de Luxembourg, sur un territoire qui deviendrait plus tard la Belgique et le Luxembourg actuel.

Dans une très grande mesure, cette frontière reprend le tracé d’une ligne établie au XVIII^e siècle. Bien que un grand nombre de ces bornes soient toujours en place, elles n’ont pas fait l’objet d’un relevé systématique et exhaustif dans OpenStreetMap.

Objectifs du projet

• Recenser toutes les bornes frontalières existantes entre la Belgique et la France.
• Documenter leur contexte historique (traités, accords, évolutions).
• Localiser précisément chaque borne (coordonnées GPS, description physique).
• Identifier les sources historiques (archives, plans, cartes anciennes).
• Taguer les photos sur Panoramax pour une visualisation collaborative.
• La communauté OpenStreetMap est tout à fait capable d’enrichir et valider ces données.

Collecte des données

… See full entry

Bank and ditch

Preliminary

This is a provisional report about a future proposition for specific tags for the following types of banks and ditches:

• bank and ditch barrier
• hedge and ditch barrier
• fossé bordier
• talus
• old way (e.g. Tiense Groef)

About bank and ditch



Bank and ditch or hedge and ditch are man made earthworks in the landscape. All have a historic interest as being the landmark for present and past administrative boundaries. They were used to limit lands, parish, communes, forests, etc.

… See full entry

Purpose of the paper

This paper is intended to explain how to use official sources to complete and/or correct OpenStreetMap data.

Introduction

In Belgium, administrative boundaries as legally defined are fixed and can only be changed by law, ordinance or decree. The General Administration of Property Documentation is designated by the federal authorities as the authentic source of Belgian administrative boundaries. ⁽¹⁾

The data are freely available on the web site of the SPF Finances / FOD Financiën / FÖD Finanzen. In addition, it should be noted that these data are more accurate than those from NGI.

A lot of administrative boundaries are already present in the OpenStreetMap database.

At the municipality level, it appears that the OSM alignments of boundaries differ slightly from the alignments published by the SPF Finances / FOD Financiën / FÖD Finanzen.

In addition, at the lower level, i.e. at the division level, boundaries are partly absent. A division is a part of a municipality.

Why do we need the division level?

The division boundaries, i.e. level 9 in Belgium, are interesting for several reasons.

Firstly, this administrative level is still used on current cadastral documents.

Secondly, the divisions are historically the successors of the pre-1977 municipalities. While their alignments are not always similar, they are generally identical. Sometimes the place names are different. ⁽²⁾ This information, i.e. the boundaries and names, is useful for historians, genealogists and all those who read old documents. Thirdly, the postcode boundaries are essentially based on the level 8 and level 9 administrative boundaries.

Existing data

It is interesting to note that the terminology used may differ from one service (e.g. NGI) to another (e.g. Finances) are different. The following table shows the different sources and terminologies for administrative boundaries.

… See full entry