Germany–Netherlands border  The Germany–Netherlands border consists of a land border that is long (including rivers but excluding the maritime border in the Dollart bay and outside it) and a maritime border running from the bay through the Frisian Islands into the North Sea. The border is located in the northwestern part of Germany and the east of the Netherlands. The border runs as a fairly irregular line from the shore of the Dollart bay which is part of the Ems river estuary in the north to the Belgium-Germany-Netherlands tripoint at Vaalserberg. The length of the border is around in length, although the straight distance between the two border end points is . The border runs along portions of rivers, including for along the large Rhine river. It also runs for about along the Meuse valley, although most of the time a few km to the east of the Meuse river rather than along it, before leaving the valley at the last portion of border to the border tripoint located at Vaalserberg about west of Aachen. The German states which share the international border are (from north to south) Lower Saxony and North Rhine-Westphalia while on the Dutch side, the provinces are Groningen, Drente, Overijssel, Gelderland and Limburg. There are at least 60 official road crossings and six railway crossings of the border. Both countries are part of the Schengen Area and the European Union, so there are minimal or non-existent border controls. Motorways crossing the border: Railways crossing the border:  The modern border today is the result of centuries of border negotiations and agreements between the states and other political entities in the region, such as the Kingdom of Prussia, Kingdom of Hannover and the United Provinces of the Netherlands, of which Germany and the Netherlands ultimately became the modern day successor states. Many of the border agreements and treaties drawn up between these states were adopted by subsequent treaties and remain in force today. Treaties with Prussia largely delimited and provided for the demarcation of the southern portion of Germany–Netherlands border from Losser south to Vaals. Among the agreements and treaties were:   Treaties with Hannover largely delimited and provided for the demarcation of the northern portion of Germany–Netherlands border north of Losser. Among the agreements and treaties were:  The Paris Protocol of March 22, 1949 following the Second World War, the Commission made 19 provisional changes in the frontier allowing the Netherlands to annex pieces of German territory totaling 26 square miles and 487 acres.