Overview of Micronations

A Micronation is the smallest form of government recognized. While several legitimate Micronations do exist (such as the Vatican), others exist as fantasy countries with no real political recognition by any other political body in the world. These nations can be considered "unofficial", with founders simply declaring themselves as heads of state. These founders may declare a small or isolated piece of land as their domain, but some choose simply to exist without borders and on more "virtual" terms. Reasons for wanting to form a micronation vary from conducting social experiments to satisfying personal fantasies and curiosities. Many micronations exist which have "officially" recognized the status of other micronations.

Micronation founders will often draw up their own Declarations of Independence, National Laws, appoint governmental leaders and honors, produce their own bank notes and even open up their property for tourist visits. For the micronations who find themselves in the borders of larger, more established countries, the micronation is often allowed to operate if no real threat to the traditional government is perceived. The population of most micronations is usually in the double digits, sometimes even in the single digits. Citizens of a micronation will often include the immediate family of the founder, which often also makes them the "Royal Family".

Just like the legitimacy of the micronations, most traditional countries will not recognize a person's citizenship with micronations. Some micronations will print their own passports, but these will not be recognized by traditional government authorities. When offering citizenship, most micronations will offer "dual citizenship", between the person's traditional country of origin and the micronation. Citizens of micronations generally do not pay taxes to the micronations and are asked by their micronation leadership to obey all of the laws of the citizen's host nation. Even micronations who declare areas of land as their own will still pay host nation taxes out of respect to the host nation.

One micronation to actually collect taxes from citizens is Nova Roma, which seeks to re-establish an ancient Roman order of government. Taxes collected are more like membership dues and go towards funding the Nova Roma micronation.

The entire idea of micronations ever receiving international recognition may seem farfetched, but more and more micronations are claiming that at one point or another, various governments or offices of governments have officially recognized the micronations as legitimate. Two micronations which make such a claim are the Principality of Sealand and the Conch Republic. The Principality of Sealand claims that the major states of Europe have accepted Sealand as a sovereign country meeting all legal requirements to be considered as such. The Conch Republic makes the claim that United States Army had officially recognized the sovereignty of the micronation in an effort to avoid any incidences which may have arisen from the Army's desire to conduct a training exercise in Conch Republic claimed territory.

Sources:

"Lonely Planet" Explores Micronations . National Public Radio.

NOVA ROMA TAX RATE TABLE FOR 2762 a.U.c. Nova Roma.

Jonathan Turner. Principality of Sealand Overview. Principality of Sealand.

Sir Peter Anderson. The Great Invasion of 1995. The Conch Republic.