Micronations, from Hasbro!

December 23, 2004 7:53 AM

Micronations have existed for some time. Some were a frauds and shams. Some were seized or destroyed. Some for profit and others for promotion. Australia had a rash of them. Meanwhile others were lost dreams that others wish to resurrect. Some were created for artistic reasons. Some were meant as protests both playful and serious. Some dedicated to old ideas and others to new ones.
posted by Vaska (27 comments total)

Let's not forget Jay Ward's attempt to establish Moosylvania.
posted by ifoughttheapemen at 8:19 AM on December 23, 2004

Don't forget Pictland. Yes, Robbie The Pict looks like a gnome.

(me, I preferred micronauts, but I could never afford the big ones.)
posted by scruss at 8:25 AM on December 23, 2004

I've been to Akhzivland, in northern Israel. Got a stamp in my passport to prove it. I get some weird looks at immigration desks around the world, but I've never had any trouble.
posted by zpousman at 8:47 AM on December 23, 2004

My idea for a bumper sticker:

Lichtenstein: We Really Are A Country!
posted by AlexReynolds at 8:50 AM on December 23, 2004

Even though they were ignored when they petitioned the United Nations for nation status and sent a volleyball team to the Olympics, don't forget The Republic of Cuervo Gold.
posted by gummo at 8:54 AM on December 23, 2004

Damn. I thought this was going to be about micronauts.
posted by slacy at 9:44 AM on December 23, 2004

tres cool... er, what do people say now... deck...
posted by GleepGlop at 9:59 AM on December 23, 2004

Did I miss it, or was there no mentions of Sealand? It's located on a retired British navy platform 6 miles off the coast and plays host to HavenCo's managed servers. It has been claiming itself to be a sovereign principality since 1967, but no UN countries agree.

Also check out escapeartist.com's list of micronations and principalities where I ran across a proposal for Freedom Ship International.
posted by nTeleKy at 10:10 AM on December 23, 2004

nTeleKy: Last link.
posted by abcde at 10:14 AM on December 23, 2004

Earlier micronations.

I miss rodii.
posted by languagehat at 10:18 AM on December 23, 2004

Lots of dead links. Easy come, easy go, I suppose. The Kingdom of Landreth looks NSFW. I've always thought of MetaFilter as the micronation with the microdonation.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 10:55 AM on December 23, 2004

Weapons-Grade Pandemonium : One of the unfortunate things I found was that many of the 'official' sites would go offline without warning, then suddenly return. However I did screw up on two of the links, specifically some and time. Sorry everyone.
posted by Vaska at 11:21 AM on December 23, 2004

I rather like the idea of micronations, and I think it's sad that they aren't allowed to function and be sovereign in modern times. Of course, this is probably one of my hippy idealistic views that will dissolve once the "obvious" is explained to me.
posted by squidlarkin at 11:34 AM on December 23, 2004

This American Life (scroll down to "The Middle of Nowhere") did a great story about the island nation of Nauru--it's the smallest independent country in the world, and for a while, this tiny dot in the middle of the Pacific Ocean was the richest per capita in the world, involved with bankrupting the Russian economy, global terrorism, North Korean defectors, the end of the world, and the late 80's theatrical flop of a London musical based on the life of Leonardo da Vinci. It's a great story.
posted by fandango_matt at 11:52 AM on December 23, 2004

Ah, I just read the Lexus thread and found the answer to my own question: people are stupid. *sigh*
posted by squidlarkin at 11:54 AM on December 23, 2004

Let us not forget Segway creator Dean Kamen's North Dumpling. The currency for this micronation has the value of pi. How cool is that?
posted by WhiskeyTangoFoxtrot at 11:59 AM on December 23, 2004

Someone told me that there was once a micronation somewhere in southeast Asia that called itself "Usa" (pronounced "oosa") which produced cheap consumer goods with the designation "made in usa". Tricky, no? I assume this is untrue since I've never heard anything else about it. Has anyone else?
posted by cilantro at 1:41 PM on December 23, 2004

Are you thinking of this?
posted by languagehat at 2:43 PM on December 23, 2004

Also there's Nadiria. It's fictious but you'd never know that from that site where an elaborate history has been constructed with a special emphasis on Nadiria's unique currency.
posted by kamus at 2:55 PM on December 23, 2004

The people of the tribe of the Nacirema are "a North American group living in the territory between the Canadian Cree, the Yaqui and Tarahumare of Mexio, and the Carib and Arawak of the Antilles. Little is known of their origin, although tradition states that they came from the east. . . ." ;)
posted by basicchannel at 3:26 PM on December 23, 2004

Let's not forget Molvania, "the land untouched by dentistry". Probably the only micronation whose travel book is a best seller on some charts.

My favorite micronation that deserves my wider recogntion is Kraig Grady's Anaphoria which has gone so far as to invent his own musical instruments & he own micro-tonal scales (with nods to Harry Partch).
posted by memexikon at 3:29 PM on December 23, 2004

Kamus, thanks for that, the Nadiria currency's pretty cool; reminds me of Oldrich Kulhanek's Funny Money series...
posted by runkelfinker at 6:32 PM on December 23, 2004

Having just finished research and writing for a term paper on Sealand and HavenCo, I offer you some more (Sealand/HavenCo-specific) links:

--> HavenCo's corporate documents, including detailed business plans for datahaven operations within a small micronation

--> the HavenCo data storage center, the Sealand living room, and a great Sealand gallery featuring the Sealand toilet

--> how it all began and Toxic Barge--from founder, Sean Hastings

--> and of course, the original Slashdot interview featuring HavenCo big man Ryan Lackey

I find this project endlessly fascinating! Sadly, from what I can tell, HavenCo is mostly defunct and Sealand is looking for new owners...
posted by superfem at 9:42 PM on December 23, 2004

I rather like the idea of micronations, and I think it's sad that they aren't allowed to function and be sovereign in modern times. Of course, this is probably one of my hippy idealistic views that will dissolve once the "obvious" is explained to me.

It is because they are offensively small. The other countries make fun of them. Also, the micropassports are really hard to read.
posted by krinklyfig at 1:20 AM on December 24, 2004

No mention of the Duchy of Grand Fenwick?
posted by gimonca at 8:25 AM on December 24, 2004

Superfem, that shot of the data center gives all the information necessary to understand that HavenCo failed.
posted by billsaysthis at 4:40 PM on December 24, 2004

billsaysthis - i completely agree!
posted by superfem at 9:24 PM on December 24, 2004