Love Thy Neighbour-MICRONATIONS
Micronations are small regions that claim autonomy for themselves, sometimes at much displeasure of their larger neighbours.
Principality of Outer Baldonia, that existed on an island in Nova Scotia, it was founded by then Chairman of Pepsi, Russell Arundel. He discovered the island on a fishing trip for tuna and later purchased it for US$ 750 in 1948. He and his fishing buddies drafted a declaration one drunken night and created this historic micronation. In 1973, the island was sold for One Canadian Dollar to Nova Scotia Bird Society where it remained today. Russell was invited to join the United Nations and as a special invitee to several diplomatic functions. Official currency was called the ‘Tunar’ after the tuna fish
Sealand- This offshore platform was created by the UK as a fortified structure to prevent German-mine laying ships carrying out their duties on the English Channel. The original name for this structure was HM Fort Roughs, constructed in 1942. This manmade island issues stamps, coins and passports. It has been described as the world’s smallest country and it is not recognized by any sovereign state.
Akhzivland- Eli Avivi is an Iranian Jew who came to this location in 1952 while visiting his sister a short distance away. He fell in love with this place and set out to claim it as a sovereign state. It is located inside the state of Israel, on the Mediterranean Sea north of Haifa. It is promoted by the Israel Ministry of Tourism.
Conch Republic in the United States region the Florida Keys was established as a result of a protest against the U.S border patrol. An interesting tidbit surfaced in the wake of 9/11 FBI investigation, apparently the head terrorist Mohammed Atta purchased a souvenir Conch Republic passport shortly before his suicide attack. This micronation actively maintains an Army, Navy and Air force.
Kingdom of Lovely- This cybernation was created by Danny Wallace in his London Flat and invited others to join via the internet by designing a room of their own where they lived to be called an embassy. This particular stunt was done from the beginning to create notice in the media and lead to a deal for the creator. It spawned the television series ‘How to Start Your Own Country’
Nutopia- John Lennon was no stranger to stepping over boundaries and creating new ones. He did just that by creating his conceptual micronation with Yoko Ono that was supposed to bring the song ‘Imagine’ to the audience worldwide. On his album ‘Mind Games’ he recorded a song ‘Nutopian International Anthem’ which was nothing more than a few seconds of silence.
Hay-on-Wye- This Welsh town declared itself an independent kingdom in 1977 and became quite a tourist hot spot for bibliophiles world over. There are over 30 bookshops and is often described as the ‘town of books’.
The Kingdom of Borovnia was an imaginary kingdom invented by Pauline and Juliet in elaborate fantasies only to go on and kill one of the girl’s mother. This sad tale was made into a film in 1994 by Peter Jackson titled ‘Heavenly Creatures’ starring Kate Winslet. The film received an Oscar nomination for Best Original Screenplay.
Waveland is a rocky, uninhabited land near UK. Its ownership is disputed by UK, Iceland, Ireland and Denmark. In 1997, the environmentalist organization Greenpeace briefly occupied the island in order to protest oil drilling in the area, declaring it the sovereign new state of Waveland and offered citizenship to anyone who would take their pledge of allegiance.
The Other World Kingdom- This is what happens when a BSDM and femdom resort in Czech Republic declares itself a sovereign nation. The men are ruled by women and below the queen. Although not recognized by any other country, it maintains its own currency, passports, police force, courts, state flag and state hymn.
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