Micronation
A micronation is a political entity whose representatives claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by any sovereign state. Micronations are classified separately from de facto states and quasi-states; they are also not considered to be autonomous or self-governing as they lack the legal basis in international law for their existence. The activities of micronations are almost always trivial enough to be ignored rather than disputed by the established nations whose territory they claim—referred to in micronationalism as macronations. Several micronations have issued coins, flags, postage stamps, passports, medals and other state-related items, some as a source of revenue. Motivations for the creation of micronations include theoretical experimentation, political protest, artistic expression, personal entertainment and the conduct of criminal activity. The study of micronationalism is known as micropatriology or micropatrology.
Although several historical states have been retroactively called micronations, the concept was formulated in the 1970s, with a particular influence from the International Micropatrological Society. Micronationalism saw several developments thereafter, with several micronations being founded in Australia in the 1970s and Japan in the 1980s. As a result of the emergence of the World Wide Web in the mid-1990s, micronationalism lost much of its traditionally eccentric anti-establishment sentiment in favour of more hobbyist perspectives, and the number of exclusively online or merely simulation-based micronations expanded dramatically. This has allowed several intermicronational organisations to form, as well as allowing for many diplomatic summits to take place between micronations since the 2000s, including the biennial MicroCon convention.
Definition
Micronations are aspirant states that claim independence but lack legal recognition by world governments or major international organisations. Micronations are classified separately from states with limited recognition and quasi-states, nor are they considered to be autonomous or self-governing as they lack the legal basis in international law for their existence. While some are secessionist in nature, most micronations are widely regarded as sovereignty projects that instead seek to mimic a sovereign state rather than to achieve international recognition, and their activities are almost always trivial enough to be ignored rather than challenged by the established nations whose territory they claim—referred to as a macronation in micronationalism. Some micronations admit to having no intention of actually becoming internationally recognised as sovereign. Geographically, most micronations are very small, are often the outgrowth of a single individual, rely on their sovereign state to some extent, and mimic sovereign states by creating their own government, legislation, proclaiming national symbols, holding national elections and engaging in diplomacy with other micronations. While most micronations claim sovereignty over physical territory, others are based solely around the Internet or do not claim sovereignty at all, a hobbyist paradigm of micronationalism that arose with the rise of the Internet from the mid-1990s onwards.In 2021, legal academics Harry Hobbs and George Williams, in their Micronations and the Search for Sovereignty, defined micronations as "self-declared nations that perform and mimic acts of sovereignty, and adopt many of the protocols of nations, but lack a foundation in domestic and international law for their existence and are not recognised as nations in domestic or international forums".
Online dictionary Collins English Dictionary, published by HarperCollins, gives a similar definition: "An entity, typically existing only on the internet or within the private property of its members, that lays claim to sovereign status as an independent nation, but which is unrecognized by real nations."
History
Retrospective micronations
Several historical political entities have been retroactively described as micronations in academic and journalistic works, including the Islands of Refreshment, Court in Exile of the Kingdom of Araucanía and Patagonia, State of Scott, Republic of Parva Domus Magna Quies, and the more contemporary Kingdom of Elleore, Republic of Saugeais, Principality of Outer Baldonia and Sultanate of M'Simbati.Libertarian micronations and seasteading projects: 1964–1972
Several entities that can be considered micronations by contemporary standards were established throughout the 1960s and early 1970s and based on ideals of libertarianism and many of them created via seasteading.New Atlantis was founded in 1964 by writer Leicester Hemingway, claiming a bamboo raft that he had constructed with steel, iron piping and rock. Hemingway had it towed off the coast of Jamaica and argued that it was technically an island and fully sovereign based on the Guano Islands Act of 1856. Although Hemingway had plans to expand the raft, it was destroyed within a few years by a cyclone, and the project was completely abandoned in 1973. In 1967, Paddy Roy Bates squatted on HM Fort Roughs, an offshore platform in the North Sea used during World War II approximately off the coast of the United Kingdom. Bates had intended to broadcast a pirate radio station from the platform, however ultimately never did so. He instead declared the independence of Fort Roughs and declared it the Principality of Sealand. Bates died in 2012, and Michael Bates has since succeeded him as Prince of Sealand.
Operation Atlantis was a project started in 1968 by Werner Stiefel, aiming to establish a new, libertarian nation in international waters via seasteading. The operation launched a ferrocement boat on the Hudson River in December 1971, piloting it to an area near the Bahamas with the intent to permanently anchor it as their territory. Upon reaching its destination, however, it sank in a hurricane. After a number of subsequent failed attempts to construct a habitable sea platform and achieve sovereign status, the project was abandoned in 1976. The Republic of Rose Island was an artificial platform originally constructed as a tourist attraction in the Adriatic Sea in 1968. However, Italian architect Giorgio Rosa soon declared it sovereign. The micronation had its own currency, a post office and commercial establishments. In 1969, the Italian Navy used explosives to destroy the facility, claiming it was a ploy to raise money from tourists while avoiding national taxation. The Republic of Minerva was a libertarian project that succeeded in building a small artificial island on the Minerva Reefs in 1972 by importing sand. It was invaded by troops from Tonga that same year, who annexed it before destroying the island. During its brief existence, Minerva was a media sensation.
Conceptualisation
As of January 1973, the Office of the Geographer of the United States Department of State had a file cabinet for "countries which are only partially real", which included the Kingdom of Humanity, Outer Baldonia, Minerva and the Sovereign Military Order of Malta—not a micronation—among others; in the mid-1980s, the file was maintained by geographer George J. Demko. Writer Philip J. Hilts added, "We know the Eastern bloc, the Western bloc, and the Third World nations. But there is another universe of nations which exist apart from the familiar countries." The International Micropatrological Society, an American learned society and research institute, was founded in 1973 and dedicated to the study of micronations, a discipline it named micropatrology. By 1976, it had documents pertaining to 128 micronations and similar political entities. The first use of micronation in a book was in an eponymous dedicated section of the 1978 The People's Almanac#2 by David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace. In 1979, the first book about micronations, How to Start Your Own Country, was published by Erwin S. Strauss. The IMS contributed considerably to the work. A second edition of the work was published in 1984 by Loompanics, followed in 1999 by a third edition published by Paladin Press. According to the Yearbook of International Organizations, the IMS was disestablished in 1988.Initial developments in Australia: 1970–1981
Australia has a disproportionate number of micronations compared to other countries. The first micronation founded within Australia was the Principality of Hutt River in 1970. It was declared independent by farmer Leonard Casley over a dispute concerning wheat production quotas. In 2017, the Supreme Court of Western Australia ordered that Casley pay $2.7 million in unpaid tax, and that his son Arthur Casley pay $242,000 in unpaid tax. Casley abdicated in 2017 in favour of his son Graeme. Leonard died in 2019, and Hutt River dissolved the following year amidst continued disputes with the Australian Taxation Office as well as the financial impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. In 1976, the Province of Bumbunga was declared by Alec Brackstone in response to the 1975 Australian constitutional crisis. Brackstone, an ardent British monarchist, became alarmed by what he saw as a drift away from the Australian system of constitutional monarchy toward outright republicanism. Thus, to ensure that at least one portion of Australia would remain loyal to the British Crown, Bumbunga was declared.The Sovereign State of Aeterna Lucina was proclaimed in 1978 by German migrant Paul Neuman. Aeterna Lucina came to public attention in 1990 when Neuman faced fraud charges in the New South Wales court system relating to land sale offences; the case was abandoned in 1992. In 1979, the Independent State of Rainbow Creek was declared by Thomas Barnes in protest of alleged incompetence by the Government of Victoria in regards to the flooding of his and others' properties. He was inspired by Hutt River. The Grand Duchy of Avram was established in Tasmania in the early 1980s by politician John Charlton Rudge, and issues its own banknotes. In recognition of his status, Rudge legally changed his name to John the Duke of Avram. In 1981, the Empire of Atlantium was founded in Sydney as a non-territorial global government based on the ideals of secularism, progressivism and liberalism. Among the causes Atlantium supports are the right to unrestricted international freedom of movement, the right to abortion, and the right to assisted suicide.