Micronations, sometimes also called model countries and projects of new countries, are small, self-proclaimed entities that claim to be independent sovereign states but are not recognized as such by any recognized sovereign state or by any supranational organization.
Some have really interesting stories and they are really cool places in general, but others are a bit weirder and have really extravagant backgrounds. Most of them unfortunately come from a discussion with their initial government. This list is a compilation of different micronations that are really cool.
The Kingdom of Redonda:
The background story in the Kingdom of Redonda has been built over the years by various artists and novelists, so its story is more than likely a mixture of reality and fiction. But according to history, in the nineteenth century, Matthew. The island is almost totally desolate, so Sheill never lived there, but he served as “King” from a distance and passed the crown to his son M.P. Sheill in 1880. According to legend, Sheill even wrote to Queen Victoria of England and asked her to recognize him as King of the island, to which she replied that she would do so, provided that he never rebelled against the crown.
The Republic of Minerva:
Micronations are often formed by groups that hope to promote political agendas and experiment with new forms of government, and of these, the Republic of Minerva is probably the most famous. The country was started in 1972 by Michael Oliver, a real estate millionaire with a strong libertarian inclination that imagined a society without taxes or social intrusions on the part of the government. He and his followers bet a small key in the South Pacific, and after dredging it with sand to create an artificial island, they declared it a new country called the Republic of Minerva. A group of settlers arrived on the island in January of ’72 after the construction of a small tower, and the country raised a flag and declared sovereignty.
The Dominion of Melchizedek:
Small nations have often been used as tax-free shelters and centers of fraud and identity theft, and the Melchizedek Domain is undoubtedly one of the most extreme examples. The new nation was formed in 1986 by Evan David Peddle and his son Mark Logan Peddle, who have since spent time in jail. Using the claim of sovereignty as a shield, for several years, this island in the South Pacific has operated as a refuge on the high seas for fake banks and almost all forms of fraud. The Dominion once issued passports for $ 10,000 per piece and allegedly sold fake business licenses that were used by scammers and other scammers to give their leading companies an appearance of authenticity. The country has been repeatedly criticized as a total farce, both by regulators and the media, but it has not yet been closed, and its website is still active and accepts applications for citizenship.
Frestonia:
In the late 1970s, a small abandoned section of the Noting Hill region of London gained worldwide attention after declaring its independence from the rest of Britain. The community, which called itself Frestonia thanks to its location on the Freston road, was made up of squatters and other types of counterculture that had been threatened with eviction by the local town hall. Unwilling to abandon their way of life, the residents united, and after overwhelmingly voting to separate, declared them a sovereign nation on Halloween night in 1977. They quickly applied for admission to the United Nations and warned that troops would be needed. peacekeeping if the council tried to evict them by force. Due to the constant coverage of the media, the city found it difficult to expel the Frestonians from their neighborhood and, after a public investigation, micronation was granted the right to exist.
Seborga:
The history of Seborga goes back to the tenth century, when the small territory in northern Italy received independence and was given to some monks so that they could build a monastery. Nearly seven hundred years later, it was annexed by the Kingdom of Sardinia, which once owned a large part of Spain and Italy. But even after the end of the Kingdom of Sardinia, Seborga was never officially claimed by the Italian state. Things stayed that way for another 200 years until the 1960s, when a local florist named Giorgio Carbone began to argue that the region had never lost its autonomy and, as such, was technically an independent principality. Carbone managed to conquer the local settlers, and was soon elected as the unofficial head of the “country” of Seborga.
Despite their new independence, things remained the same in Seborga until the mid-nineties, when the 300 residents of the city voted in favor of the independence of Italy. He was the most enthusiastic promoter of the Principality and is responsible for instituting his flag, the money. The Italian government has never officially recognized Seborga, but they have not discouraged him from operating symbolically as a sovereign state, and today he even has his own permanent army, which supposedly consists of a only soldier named Lieutenant Atonally Locale.
