Many people have considered founding their own country at some point in their lives. They have sketched out various flag designs, considered possible names for the capital city, and calculated a financial prognosis for the country’s expanding economy. Maybe it’s just me, though.
Some folks, let’s call them “The Dreamers,” go even further in their nation-founding ambitions. And by that, I mean that they literally invent a nation for themselves—a small area of the world that they can claim as their own. These David-sized micronations, which are disregarded by the global Goliaths, are proof that size is irrelevant; what matters is what you do with it.
1. The Principality Of Sealand
The Principality of Sealand can appear to the untrained eye to be an abandoned offshore platform. Sealand is a tiny nation in the North Sea that is 7.5 miles or so off the coast of Suffolk and has a truly amazing tale to tell.
The building that Sealand claims as its territory, Rough Towers, is an abandoned sea fort that was once constructed as a defensive gun platform for the British during World War II. The “fort” has been home to the family and friends of a guy by the name of Paddy Roy Bates since 1967.
2. Liberland
The population of this micronation, which was founded on April 13, 2015, is zero. It is a little country that shares a border with Croatia and borders Serbia. Due to a border dispute between the two nations, it was founded. Vit Jedlicka, a citizen of the Czech Republic, founded it. More than 200,000 applications for citizenship have already been submitted to him.
3. Republic of Minerva
Michael Oliver, a political activist and multimillionaire in real estate, arrived in 1971 with barges filled with sand to cover the islands and raise the bar level above the ocean. Then he built a tiny tower and a flag. On January 19, 1972, he even issued a declaration of independence in letters to nearby nations as well as its own currency.
4. Grand Duchy of Westarctica
An American named Travis McHenry founded the micronation of Westarctica on November 2, 2001. A gap in the Antarctic Treaty was discovered by him, and after learning that no nation had made a claim to the territory, he wrote letters to Russia, Norway, New Zealand, the United States, and the United Kingdom to let them know of his claim. All these nations gave him the cold shoulder.
5. Freetown Christiania
In the Danish city of Copenhagen, this self-described autonomous neighbourhood comprises about 850 residents and is spread out across 84 acres. In an abandoned military location, a group of hippies founded Freetown Christiania in 1971 with the intention of establishing a free community. Despite its claims to be a fully operational anarchist community, Freetown Christiania is not without controversy. But curiously, the people of this micronation continue to pay taxes to Copenhagen for the provision of services.
