Article
Micronation
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This article is about entities that are not officially recognized by world governments or major international organisations. For information on countries that are generally recognized but geographically small, see microstate.
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The Principality of Sealand
Micronations, sometimes also referred to as model countries and new country projects, are entities that claim to be independent nations or states but which are not recognized by world governments or major international organizations.
Micronations are also distinguished from imaginary countries and from other kinds of social groups (such as eco-villages, campuses, tribes, clans, sects, and residential community associations) by expressing a formal and persistent, even if unrecognized, claim of sovereignty over some physical territory.
Several micronations have issued coins, flags, postage stamps, passports, medals, and other items, which are rarely accepted outside of their own community.
The earliest known micronations date from the beginning of the 19th century. The advent of the Internet provided the means for people to create many new micronations, whose members are scattered all over the world and interact mostly by electronic means, often calling their nations Nomadic Countries. The differences between such Internet micronations, other kinds of social networking groups, and role playing games are often hard to define.[1]
The term "micronation" to describe those entities dates at least to the 1970s.[2] The term micropatrology is sometimes used to describe the study of both micronations and microstates by micronationalists, some of whom refer to sovereign nation-states as "macronations".
Contents [hide]
1 Etymology
2 Definition
3 Categories
3.1 Social, economic, or political simulations
3.2 Exercises in personal entertainment or self-aggrandisement
3.3 Exercises in fantasy or creative fiction
3.4 Vehicles for agenda promotion
3.5 Entities created for allegedly fraudulent purposes
3.6 Historical anomalies and aspirant states
3.7 New-country projects
3.8 Exercises in historical revisionism
3.9 Alternative governments
4 History
4.1 Early history and evolution
4.2 History during 1960 to 1980
4.3 Japanese micronations in the 1980s
4.4 Australian and New Zealand developments
4.5 Effects of the Internet
5 Legitimacy
6 Academic, literary, and media attention
7 Coins of micronations
8 See also
9 References
10 Further reading
11 External links
Etymology[edit source]
The term 'micronation' literally means "small nation". It is a neologism originating in the mid-1970s to describe the many thousands of small unrecognised state-like entities that have mostly arisen since that time. It is generally accepted that the term was invented by Robert Ben Madison. The term has since also come to be used retrospectively to refer to earlier unrecognised entities, some of which date to as far back as the 19th century. Supporters of micronations ("micronationalists"
use the term "macronation" for any UN-recognized sovereign nation-state.
Definition[edit source]
Micronations generally have a number of common features, although these may vary widely. They may have a structure similar to established sovereign states, including territorial claims, government institutions, official symbols and citizens, albeit on a much smaller scale. Micronations are often quite small, in both their claimed territory and claimed populations — although there are some exceptions to this rule, with different micronations having different methods of citizenship. Micronations may also issue formal instruments such as postage stamps, coins, banknotes and passports, and bestow honours and titles of nobility.
The Montevideo Convention was one attempt to create a legal definition distinguishing between states and non-states. Some micronations meet this definition, while some do not, and others reject the Convention altogether.
The academic study of micronations, microstates, and alternative governments is known as micropatrology, and the hobby of establishing and operating micronations is known as micronationalism.
Categories[edit source]
In the present day, nine main types of micronations are prevalent:
Social, economic, or political simulations.
Exercises in personal entertainment or self-aggrandisement.
Exercises in fantasy or creative fiction.
Vehicles for the promotion of an agenda.
Entities created for fraudulent purposes.
Historical anomalies and aspirant states.
New-country projects.
Exercises in historical revisionism.
Alternative governments.
Social, economic, or political simulations[edit source]
These micronations tend to have a reasonably serious intent, and often involve significant numbers of people interested in recreating the past or simulating political or social processes. Examples include:
Freetown Christiania, a semi-legal district in Copenhagen, Denmark
Talossa, a political simulation founded in 1979, with more than 200 members ("citizens"
and an invented culture and language, recently split into three separate groups.[3][4][5]
Nova Roma, a group claiming a worldwide membership of several thousand that has minted its own coins, maintains its own wiki, and which engages in real-life Roman-themed re-enactments.
Republic of Jamtland, a self-proclaimed republic in the county of Jämtland, Sweden. It was founded in 1963 due to Sweden's social welfare politics, which wanted Jämtland to merge with the county of Västernorrland and wanted more people to move away from the countryside of northern Sweden and into the big cities of southern Sweden. This started protests in Jämtland and later that year they declared themselves a free republic within the Kingdom of Sweden. The Republic of Jämtland has a population of 130,573 inhabitants and has an area of 19,090.4 square miles. Jämtland also has embassies and consulates in 17 different countries, such as China, Germany, the USA, England, Norway and Russia. In 1967, Yngve Gamlin, the president of the republic at that time, went to see the Swedish prime minister Tage Erlander about merging with Västernorrland county. Yngve was greeted at Harpsund estate by Tage as a chief of state on a state visit to Sweden. This gave Jamtland some recognition from Sweden as a free republic. This event has, however, been debated whether it should be seen as formal recognition or not.
Exercises in personal entertainment or self-aggrandisement[edit source]
President Kevin Baugh of Molossia.
With literally thousands in existence, micronations of the second type are by far the most common. This type can also be known as "political simulationism" or simply "simulationism". They generally exist "for fun," have relatively few participants, are ephemeral, today usually Internet-based, and many do not survive more than a few months—although there are notable exceptions. They are usually concerned solely with arrogating to their founders the outward symbols of statehood. The use of grand-sounding titles, awards, honours, and heraldic symbols derived from European feudal traditions, the conduct of "wars" (often known as recwars) and "diplomacy" with other micronations, and simulated continents or planets are common manifestations of their activities. Examples include:
The Aerican Empire, a Monty Pythonesque micronation founded in 1987 and known for its tongue-in-cheek interplanetary land claims, smiley-faced flag and a range of national holidays that includes "Topin Wagglegammon" amongst others.
Republic of Molossia, a desert-based micronation of 0.5 ha (1.3 acres) located near Reno, Nevada ruled by President Kevin Baugh, founded in 1977. There is a nationwide ban on smoking.[6]
The Kingdom of Lovely is an attempt by King Danny I (Danny Wallace) to create an internet nation based in his flat in London.
Exercises in fantasy or creative fiction[edit source]
Micronations of the third type include stand-alone artistic projects, deliberate exercises in creative online fiction, social justification or gratification, and artistamp creations. Examples include:
The Republic of Kugelmugel, founded by an Austrian artist and based in a ball-shaped house in Vienna, which quickly became a tourist attraction.
The Copeman Empire, 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. He and his empire are the subject of a book and a website where King Nicholas sells knighthoods.
San Serriffe, an April Fool's Day hoax created by the British newspaper The Guardian, in its April 1, 1977 edition. The fictional island nation was described in an elaborate seven-page supplement and has been revisited by the newspaper several times.
Republic of Saugeais (République du Saugeais), a fifty-year-old "republic" in the French département of Doubs, bordering Switzerland. The republic is made of the 11 municipalities of Les Allies, Arcon, Bugny, La Chaux-de-Gilley, Gilley, Hauterive-la-Fresne, La Longeville, Montflovin, Maisons-du-Bois-Lievremont, Ville-du-Pont, and its capital Montbenoit. It had a "president"—Georgette Bertin-Pourchet, elected in 2006—a "prime minister" and numerous "citizens". It was born from a joke between a Sauget resident and the local Préfet.
The People's Independent Democratic Republic of Procrastination, or PIDROP for short, was created by a small group of 7th graders in Lexington, Massachusetts as a joke to prove that they can run a democracy better than the US. Following a series of "revolutions", however, the nation was split into a tri-partisan state, run by Communists, Democrats, and a group of bi-partisans who call themselves "The Green Party". PIDROP has grown very popular with the students of Lexington.
Vehicles for agenda promotion[edit sourc
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Što je Micronation? (11 years ago)
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Take part in numerous events for the E-Sim community.
