From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Micronations, sometimes also referred to as model countries and new country projects, are small, self-proclaimed entities that claim to be independent sovereign states but which are not acknowledged as such by any recognised sovereign state, or by any supranational organisation. They should not be confused with microstates, which are recognised independent states of a small size, nor should they be confused with unrecognised states, which have indisputably real claims to sovereign state status.[1]
Motivations for the creation of micronations include theoretical experimentation, political protest, artistic expression, personal entertainment and the conduct of criminal activity.[2]Micronations can also exist in various forms, including in the physical world (on land, at sea and in outer space), online, in the minds of their creators—or some combination of these. Some micronations issue coins, flags, postage stamps, passports, medals, and other items.
Contents[hide] |
[edit]List of micronations
Official title | Flag | Founded | Description | Leader |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aerican Empire |  | 1987 | An eccentric tongue-in-cheek micronation founded by Canadian Eric Lis as a child, and maintained for the several decades since. It claims various terrestrial and interplanetary territories as Aerican land.[3] | Eric Lis |
| Aeterna Lucina | 1978 | An Australian micronation founded by a self-proclaimed baron, who claimed properties he owned in New South Wales as its territory. Several associated businessmen were charged in 1990 with land and visa fraud.[4] | Paul Baron Neuman | |
| Aramoana | 1980 | A small New Zealand community that declared itself independent to protest the building of an aluminium smelter on nearby land.[citation needed] | ||
| Atlantium |  | 1981 | A global sovereignty group based in Australia that was founded in Sydney by George Francis Cruickshank.[5] | George Cruickshank |
| Austenasia | 2008 | A constitutional monarchy comprising three privately owned properties that have declared themselves independent under the leadership of a house in south London.[6] | Jonathan Austen | |
| Avram | 1980s | A non-territorial micronation founded by an eccentric self-proclaimed "duke" who was later elected to the Tasmanian state parliament.[7] | John Charlton Rudge | |
| Akhzivland | declared independence 1970[8][9] | A non-territorial micronation founded by El Avivi in response to the Israeli government's sending two bulldozers to demolish his illegally inhabited house.[8] As a result of a lawsuit brought against Avivi by the State of Israel (which was subsequently rejected by the judge hearing the case), the micronation's legal status has remained ambiguous. | El Avivi | |
| British West Florida |  | 2005 | A micronation intending to revive the former British colony of the same name.[10] | Bo Register |
| Barony of Caux | 2001 | Caux claims lands in Shropshire, England and in Normandy, France, and is an absolute feudal barony. Caux has had about 80 subjects worldwide. The self-proclaimed Baron resides at the "Ambassorial Enclave" in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.[11] | John V. Corbett | |
| BjornSocialist Republic | 2005 | A self-proclaimed Marxist state, based also on the religious but atheist Bjorn principles, of about 6 square metres (7.18 sq yd) located on a stone "that looks like a tractor" in Lake Immeln, Scania, Sweden. It is recognised by Ladonia.[12][13][14][15] | ||
| Celestia | 1949 | A defunct micronation claiming all of outer space. | James Thomas Mangan | |
| Conch Republic | 1982 | A group claiming tongue-in-cheek independence from the US in protest at a blockade established by the US Border Patrol at the upper end of theFlorida Keys.[16] | Dennis Wardlow | |
| Copeman Empire | 2003 | The Copeman Empire is run from a caravan park in Norfolk, England, by its founder Nick Copeman, who changed his name by deed poll to HM King Nicholas I.[17] | Nick Copeman | |
| Coral Sea Islands |  | 2004 | Established as a symbolic political protest by a group of gay rightsactivists, the Coral Sea Islands is a micronation based in southeastQueensland, Australia.[18] | Dale Anderson |
| Elleore |  | 1944 | A tongue-in-cheek micronation founded by a group of school teachers as a summer camp on the island of Elleore, Denmark.[19] | |
| EnenKio |  | 1994 | Claims Wake Atoll in the Marshall Islands, and has been deemed a scam for selling passports and diplomatic papers.[20] | |
| Forvik | 2008 | An islet in Shetland, Scotland, declared an independent Crown dependency by Stuart Hill, who claims that the United Kingdom has breached the 1469 deal with Denmark, which transferred the Shetland Islands to the Scottish crown.[21] | Stuart Hill | |
| Frestonia | 1977 | Freston Road in West London staged a "secession" from the United Kingdom as Frestonia. In a legal dispute regarding the unauthorised performance of his play The Immortalist, Heathcote Williams won a ruling from the UK courts that Frestonia was for this purpose not part of the UK.[22] | ||
| Global Country of World Peace | 2000 | "A country without borders for peace loving people everywhere" created byMaharishi Mahesh Yogi, with a capital at Maharishi Vedic City, Iowa.[23] | Maharaja Adhiraj Rajaraam | |
| Hajdučka Republika Mijata Tomića | 2002 | A protest project (based on Vran mountain, in Blidinje Nature Park,Bosnia and Herzegovina) started by a local because of inefficiency of problems with the local electricity supply.[24] | Vinko Vukoja Lastvić | |
| Hay-on-Wye | 1977 | A town in Wales which was declared independent by bibliophile Richard Booth as a publicity stunt. Booth's success in promoting Hay as a "town of books" was recognised with the award of an MBE in the 2004 Queen's New Year Honours.[25] | Richard Booth | |
| Humanity |  | 1878 | A former micronation, occupying the Spratly Islands, which merged into the Republic of Morac-Songhrati-Meads in September 1963.[26] | |
| Hutt River | 1970 | A large farming area in Western Australia that unilaterally seceded from the Commonwealth and declared itself to be a sovereign nation. It was known as the Hutt River Province until 2007.[27] | Leonard Casley | |
| Kugelmugel | 1984 | A ball-shaped house built by artist Edwin Lipburger, currently located in the Vienna Prater.[28] | Edwin Lipburger | |
| Ladonia |  | 1980 | A micronation created by Swedish artist Lars Vilks as the home to sculptures created by him in the Kullaberg nature reserve in north-west Skåne.[29] | |
| Lagoan Isles | 2005 | The creation of a self-styled Grand Duke Louis, who claims that three tiny islands in a Portsmouth pond are not owned by the local council, and so has declared them an independent state.[30] | Louis Stephans | |
| L'Anse-Saint-Jean | 1997 | A micronation started to promote tourism in a small Quebec town. | Denys Tremblay | |
| Llanrwst | 1276 | A town in North Wales declared a "free borough" by a Welsh prince which unsuccessfully applied to the United Nations in 1947. | Llywelyn the Last | |
| Kingdom of Lovely |  | 2004 | An Internet-based micronation founded by Danny Wallace as part of the BBC TV series How to Start Your Own Country, claiming the flat of its creator as sovereign territory.[31] | Danny Wallace |
| Lundy | 1925 | An island off the west coast of England, which historically (1100–1200s AD) had semi-independent status or claimed independence from England under various warlords. Between 1925 and 1931 its owner declared himself King and minted coins but did not declare formal independence. | Martin Coles Harman | |
| Marlborough | 1993 | A short lived micronation in Australia whose creator declared his farm an independent country to try to avoid eviction after bankruptcy. He was evicted less than a week later by police, was later prosecuted and has since abandoned any claim of independence.[32] | George Muirhead | |
| Melchizedek | 1986 | The Dominion of Melchizedek (DoM) is a micronation known largely for facilitating large scale banking fraud in many parts of the world.[33] | Richard James McDonald | |
| Minerva | 1973 | An attempt to build an artificial island and form a new libertarian country. The new land was located on Minerva Reef, south of Fiji, but the island was seized and annexed by Tonga shortly afterwards.[34] | Morris C. Davis | |
| Molossia |  | 1977 | A micronation founded by Kevin Baugh, occupying his semi-rural residential acreage in Nevada. It is run semi-humorously as a dictatorial banana-republic.[35] | Kevin Baugh |
| Morac-Songhrati-Meads | 1959 | A present day micronation, claimed to occupy the Spratly Islands. The territory is currently under de facto military control by China, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam, since the discovery of oil in 1968.[26] | ||
| Neue Slowenische Kunst | 1984 | A nation created by a number of Slovene artists.[36] | ||
| New Utopia | 1990s | A proposed micronation based on libertarian principles to be built on platforms in the Caribbean Sea. It was founded by American entrepreneurLazarus Long. The project's current status is questionable.[37] | Lazarus Long | |
| Northern Forest Archipelago | 1998 | An environmentally focused micronation located in the northeastern US consisting of multiple discontiguous privately owned properties in the Northern Forest area of New York State.[38] | James Sheffield | |
| Nova Roma |  | 1998 | An international organisation of Roman revivalists who claim to be a modern Roman nation and have the administrative structure of the ancientRoman Republic. Nova Roma explicitly states that they aren't a micronation but a "civitas" or "res publica"; their organisation, however, fits all the requirements for being classified as such.[39] | |
| Other World Kingdom[citation needed] | 1996 | An absolute monarchy/matriarchy with strong BDSM themes, in which women rule over all men. It is located in the Czech Republic. | ||
| Perloja | 1918 | Established in the aftermath of World War I, the Republic of Perloja had its own court, police, prison, currency (Perloja litas), and an army of 300 men.[40] | Jonas Česnulevičius[41] | |
| Peščenica | 1990s | Peščenica is a satirical-parodical project of a dictator-ruled republic by famous Croatian maverick traveller Željko Malnar. It is located in Zagreb,Croatia.[42] | Željko Malnar | |
| Rainbow Creek | 1979 | Founded by a farmer who "seceded" from Victoria over damage to farmlands caused by flooding he claimed was exacerbated due to incompetence of the state government water management agency.[43] | Thomas Barnes | |
| Redonda |  | 1865 | A small uninhabited island in the Caribbean sea, now legally part ofAntigua and Barbuda. In 1865, a citizen of Montserrat was supposedly permitted by Queen Victoria to claim the title of King of Redonda, as long as he did not incite any revolt against colonial authority.[44] | |
| Rose Island | 1968 | An attempt to create a sovereign state on an offshore platform in international waters near the Italian city of Rimini. It was completed, but shortly afterwards seized by the Italian government and destroyed with explosives.[34] | Giorgio Rosa | |
| Saugeais | 1947 | An officially sanctioned tongue-in-cheek micronation located in eastern France, in the département of Doubs.[45] | Georgette Bertin-Pourchet | |
| Sealand |  | 1967 | A World War II military facility consisting of a man-made structure located off the English coast which was occupied and declared to be an independent state by Paddy Roy Bates.[46] | Paddy Roy Bates |
| Seborga | 954 | A town in the Italian region of Liguria that claims never to have been a part of the modern Italian state.[47] | Marcello I | |
| Talossa |  | 1979 | A micronation founded as a bedroom kingdom by Milwaukee, Wisconsin resident Robert Ben Madison. Madison claims to have coined the term "micronation".[nb 1][48] | John Woolley |
| Užupis | 1997 | Užupis is a neighborhood in Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, largely located in Vilnius' old town. In 1997, the residents of the area declared a Republic of Užupis, with its own flag, currency, president, and constitution.[49] | ||
| Valtio |  | 2006 | 50 square metres (59.80 sq yd) of land in a forest located at Posio,Finland, founded by Ari Peltonen as a joke. Radio Helsinki and Helsingin Sanomat followed what happens in the state.[50] | Ari Peltonen |
| Vikesland | 2005 | A micronation located in Manitoba, Canada that was founded for the purposes of a TV documentary about micronations. It claims two properties in and near the town of Brandon.[51] | ||
| Wanstonia | 1994 | Wanstonia was created by protesters against the M11 motorway link road through Wanstead in north-east London.[52] | ||
| Waveland | 1997 | A micronation sited on a rocky islet in the North Atlantic, known asRockall. Greenpeace occupied Rockall, declaring it an independent nation, to protest oil drilling in the area.[53] | ||
| Wendland | 1980 | A German anti-nuclear protest in the Wendland, reoccupied by thousands of policemen after a few weeks.[54] | ||
| Westarctica | 1989 | Micronation claiming a large chunk of unclaimed land in Marie Byrd Landin Antarctica. | Jon-Lawrence Langer | |
| Whangamomona Republic | 1989 | A tongue-in-cheek micronation created as a tourism booster, and based in the rural New Zealand town of the same name. A goat has been elected as its president.[55] | Murt Kennard | |
| Wirtland |  | 2008 | Wirtland is an experiment into legitimacy and self-sustainability of a country without its own soil, which transcends national borders without breaching or lessening the sovereignty of any involved.[56] |
