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 unrecognized by world governments or major international organizations. These nations often exist only on paper, on the Internet, or in the minds of their creators.
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.
The earliest known micronations date from the beginning of the 19th century. The advent of the Internet provided the means for the creation of many new micronations, whose members are scattered all over the world and interact mostly by electronic means. The differences between such Internet micronations, other kinds of social networking groups, and role playing games are often hard to define.
The earliest recognizable micronations on record date from the beginning of the 19th century. Most were founded by eccentric adventurers or business speculators, and several were remarkably successful. One early example of a micronation is the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, ruled by the Clunies-Ross family.
Martin Coles Harman, owner of the British island of Lundy in the early decades of the 20th century, declared himself King and issued private coinage and postage stamps for local use. Although the island was ruled as a virtual fiefdom, its owner never claimed to be independent of the United Kingdom, so Lundy can at best be described as a precursor to later territorial micronations. Another example is the Principality of Outer Baldonia, a 16-acre (65,000 m2) rocky island off the coast of Nova Scotia, founded by Russell Arundel, chairman of the Pepsi Cola Company (later: PepsiCo), in 1945 and comprising a population of 69 fishermen.
The Republic of Rose Island was a 400 m² platform built in 1968 in Italian national waters in the Adriatic Sea, 7 miles (11 km) off the Italian town of Rimini. It is known to have issued stamps, and to have declared Esperanto to be its official language. Shortly after completion, however, it was seized and destroyed by the Italian Navy for failing to pay state taxes.
The Republic of Minerva was set up in 1972 as a libertarian new-country project by Nevada businessman Michael Oliver. Oliver's group conducted dredging operations at the Minerva Reefs, a shoal located in the Pacific Ocean south of Fiji. They succeeded in creating a small artificial island, but their efforts at securing international recognition met with little success, and near-neighbour Tonga sent a military force to the area and annexed it.
The activities of these types of micronations are almost exclusively limited to simulations of diplomatic activity (including the signing of "treaties" and participation in "supra-micronational" forums such as the League of Micronations and the Micronational News Network), the conduct and operation of simulated elections and parliaments, and participation in simulated wars — all of which are carried out through online bulletin boards, mailing lists and blogs.
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