The land boundary between Germany and the Netherlands extends northward from the tripoint with Belgium for 583 kilometers (362 miles) before reaching the disputed waters of the Ems Estuary. The entirety of its length has been delimited and demarcated, with many of its defining agreements being more than two hundred years old.

Resolving the question of sovereignty over the internal waters of the Ems Estuary has been difficult for the two States as the dispute has been ongoing for over five hundred years. Modern-day attempts to settle the dispute over the estuary began with an agreement in 1960, which defined the disputed region of the estuary. In 1962, the Ems Estuary was split into German and Dutch “Zones,” with a delimited line dividing them, but with no bearing on the actual international boundary between them. This was reinforced again in 2014 when the two States agreed to leave the official boundary undefined but with a provisional, or practical, dividing line in place. Germany maintains its claim to the entirety of the Ems Estuary up to the Dutch coastline, while the Netherlands is of the view that the thalweg of the estuary should be the boundary line.

Germany and the Netherlands also have an established maritime boundary.