Self-Proclaimed Micronations Contents: Hutt River - Saugeais - Sealand - Seborga -

Self-Proclaimed Micronations
Contents: Hutt River - Saugeais - Sealand - Seborga -

Note: This page is about a small number of entities that are mostly historical anomalies and aspirant states founded on historical anomalies or eccentric interpretations of law. This page is about entities that are not recognized by world governments or major international organizations. For information on countries that are generally recognized, but are geographically tiny such as Nauru, Vatican City, or San Marino, see microstates. Micronations – sometimes also referred to as cybernations, fantasy countries, model countries, and new country projects – are entities that resemble independent nations or states, but for the most part exist only on paper, on the Internet, or in the minds of their creators. Some micronations have managed to extend some of their operations into the real world: examples of this may include currency, flags, postage, etc. These trappings of the more widely accepted nations and states of the "real world" may serve to enhance the suspension of disbelief for people both inside and outside of the micronations in question.
The term "micronation" is a neologism originating in the 1990's to describe the many thousands of small, unrecognized state-like entities that have arisen mostly since that time. The term has since also come to be used retroactively to refer to earlier unrecognized entities, some of which date as far back as the 19th century. In recent years the term "micropatrology" has been used by some to describe the study of micronations; it is not a formal academic
discipline.
Micronations should be distinguished from various entities which exercise effective governmental and military control over a territory, despite not being recognized as a state by most or all other states. Examples of such entities would include South Ossetia, Abkhazia, and Transnistria, or many parts of the world controlled by rebel guerilla groups. By contrast, micronations do not exercise effective military or governmental control of any more than a very small area (e.g. the private property of its founders), if that. These criteria distinguish micronations from imaginary countries, eco-villages, campuses, tribes, clans, sects, and residential community associations, which do not usually seek to be recognized as sovereign. Micronations should also be distinguished from entities that have diplomatic relations with other recognized nation-states of the world without being formally recognized themselves by many nation-states or major international bodies (such as the UN). Examples of this include Taiwan, Tibet, and Palestine. By contrast, micronations do not generally have diplomatic relations with recognized nation-states of the world or major international bodies (such as the UN).

Disclaimer: This page does not formally recognize, support or endorse these polities or any money making schemes they operate.


Hutt River


[Hutt River flag]
Adopted 1970

Map of Hutt River

Hear National Anthem
"Hutt River National Anthem"

Text of National Anthem
Adopted 1970

Constitution
(1 Oct 2005)
Capital: Nain

Currency: Hutt River
Province Dollar;
Australian Dollar (AUD)

National Holiday: 21 Apr (1970)
Independence Day

Population: 60 (2004 est.)
GDP: $N/A

Exports: $N/A
Imports: $N/A

Ethnic groups: European, Aboriginal
Total Armed Forces: None

Religions: Anglican, other
International Organizations/Treaties: None
Hutt River Index

Chronology

21 Apr 1970 Province of Hutt River declares secession from
the State of Western Australia and
from Australia (not formally recgnized by
Australia or Western Australia).
1 Oct 2005 Principality of Hutt River Province
Hutt River website






Administrator
21 Apr 1970 - 1970 Leonard (b. 1927)
(Leonard George Caseley)
Prince
1970 - Leonard I (s.a.)

Territorial Dispute: 'Independence' not recognized by Australia or any other nation.

note: Leonard Casley settled as a farmer in Western Australia in 1969. Outraged by the low wheat allotment sent him by the Australian government that year, Casley seceded and formed the independent Hutt River Province. Casley's new country soon came under attack, when the Prime Minister began threatening action against Hutt River. The citizens of Hutt River responded by acclaiming Casley as Prince Leonard I; under Commonwealth law, a monarch could not be charged with treason. While the loopholes have since been closed, the Australian government has not moved against Hutt River since the declaration. Leonard and his son, Crown Prince Ian, rule as benevolent monarchs over the sixty-odd residents and some 17,500 overseas citizens.
Hutt River Province Principality is situated 595 km north of Perth, Western Australia and is about 75 square km in size, consisting of some 18,500 acres of land. Hutt River is an Independent Sovereign State having seceded from Australia on 21 Apr 1970 and is of comparable size to Hong Kong (not including the New Territories).
Minerva: see under Tonga

Saugeais

[Saugeais]
Adopted 1973

Map of Saugeais
Hear National Anthem
"Hymne National Saugeais"
Text of National Anthem
Adopted 1947

Constitution
(2001)
Capital: Montbenoît

Currency: Saugeais Sol;
Euro (EUR);
to 1 Jan 2002 French
Franc (FRF)

National Holiday:
1st Sunday in Oct.
(Montbenoît Festival)

Population: 4, 500 (2005 est.)
GDP: $N/A

Exports: $N/A
Imports: $N/A

Ethnic groups: French, Swiss, German
Total Armed Forces: 13 (2005)

Religions: Roman Catholic, others
International Organizations/Treaties: None
Saugeais Index

Chronology

1150 Landry, Seigneur of Joux, gives the
territory to Humbert, the Archbishop of
Besançon.
1100 A hermit named Benoît lives with a small
community. These religionists were led by
Narduin and lived under the rule of
St. Colomban. They clear the region and
construct the abbey, around which later will
group eleven communes (which today are in
the French département of Doubs).
1773 Abbey is closed.
1947 Republic of Saugeais (République du Saugeais)
proclaimed, partly in response to a joke by
the local Prefect Ottavianni (not recognized
by Doubs département or France).
Saugeais website






Presidents
1947 - 1968 Georges Pourchet (b. 1901? - d. 1968)
1968 - 31 Aug 2005 Gabrielle Pourchet (f) (b. 1906 - d. 2005)
(de facto to 1972)
1 Sep 2005 - 28 Jan 2006 Jean-Marie Nicod (interim) (b. 1951)
28 Jan 2006 - Georgette Bertin-Pourchet (f) (b. 1934)

Prime minister
1990 - Jean-Marie Nicod (s.a.)

Territorial Dispute: 'Independence' not recognized by France or any other nation.

note: The Republic of Saugeais is located in the upper valley of the river Doubs, an area known as Val Sauget since the XIIth century. The republic is made of the 11 municipalities of Les Alliés, Arçon, Bugny, La Chaux-de-Gilley, Gilley, Hauterive-la-Fresne, la Longeville, Maisons-du-Bois-Lièvremont, Montbenoît, Montflovin and Ville-du-Pont.
In the middle of the XIIth century, Landry, Lord of Joux, decided to found and fund an abbey in the desert upper valley of Doubs. He gave land to Humbert, Archbishop of Besançon, who invited monks from Saint-Maurice-d'Agaune (Valais/Wallis, Switzerland) to settle there. The monks came with colons from the Grishuns and Savoy, who brought their local languages
which were still widely used in the valley in the beginning of the XXth century. The colons met the local hermit Benoît, and the abbey was named after him. A monk called Norduin built the abbey, which was placed under St. Colomban's rule. The abbey remained under the control of the Lords of Joux. In 1508, the system of commende was established, by which the abbots
rcieved a rent but did not live in the abbey. The most famous of these commendataire abbots was Ferry Carondelet, a former councilor of Emperor Charles V fond of the Italian Renaissance, who richly decorated the abbey. The abbey was eventually closed in 1723.
In 1947, the Prefect of the department of Doubs, Mr. Ottavianni, came to Montbenoît to attend the recruiting board. He took his lunch in the Hôtel de l'Abbaye in Montbenoît, owned by Georges Pourchet. As a joke, Pourchet asked the Prefet: "Do you have a transire allowing you to enter the Republic of Saugeais?" The Prefect asked for more details on the Republic and
eventually answered: "A Republic must have a President. You are appointed President of the Free Republic of Saugeais." The President died in 1968. His wife Gabrielle retired in 1970 but remained active in Montbenoît, helping the parish priest to preserve the abbey. In 1972, a festival was organized in order to raise funds for the abbey preservation. During the lunch,
Gabrielle Pourchet was elected by acclamation President of the Free Republic of Saugeais for the rest of her life.


Sealand


[Sealand flag] Adopted 2 Sep 1967



[Sealand flag]
Principality Standard



Map of Sealand

Hear National Anthem
"E Mare Libertas"
(From the Sea Freedom)

Text of National Anthem
Adopted 2001 (no Lyrics)

Constitution
(2 Sep 1995)
Capital: Sealand

Currency:
Sealand Dollar

National Holidays: 2 Sep (1967)
Independence Day;
8 Aug (1952)
Regents Day
(Birthday of Prince Michael)

Population: 27 (2002)
GDP: $600,000 (2002)

Revenue: $325,000 (2002)
Expenditures: $194,000 (2002)

Ethnic groups: European, North American
Total Security Force: about 10 (2003)

Religions: Church of England 26%, other 74% (2002)
International Organizations/Treaties: None
Sealand Index

Chronology

1942 United Kingdom creates a base consisting of
concrete and steel construction outside British
territorial waters named Royal Fort Roughs Tower
(at 51-53-40 degrees North latitude and 01-28-57
degrees East longitude).
1945/46 The fort is abandoned after World War II.
2 Sep 1967 Principality of Sealand (not recognized by U.K.).
25 Nov 1968 De facto recognition by British court when it
admits it "could not exert any jurisdiction
outside the national territory at the high seas."
Aug 1978 Several Dutch and German men fail in a forced
attempt to occupy Sealand.
1 Oct 1987 Extension of U.K. territorial waters from 3
to 12 NM.
22 Aug 2000 - 2008 Leased to internet hosting company HavenCo.
23 Jun 2006 The top platform of the Roughs Tower caught fire,
damage reparied by Nov 2006.
Picture of Sealand
Sealand website





Prince
2 Sep 1967 - Roy I (Roy Bates) (b. 1921)
6 Nov 1999 - Michael of Sealand -Regent (b. 1952)
(Michael Bates)

No Political Parties Exist

Territorial Disputes: U.K. claims Sealand territorial waters and jurisdiction since 1987 (date of extension of U.K. territorial limits); 'Independence' not recognized by U.K. or any other nation.

note: Sealand is an abandoned World War II anti-aircraft platform in the Thames Estuary. It just outside the UK's 3-mile territorial water limit. In the mid 1960s it was occupied by a British businessman, Roy Bates, and his family. He proclaimed himself Prince Roy and the platform to be the Principality of Sealand. They have had a checkered history: at one point some associates of Prince Roy made an armed occupation of the platform and he had to make an armed counter-coup. The invaders were overwhelmed, tried and sentenced to death for treason. However, the Sealanders decided it would be prudent to commute the sentences to exile and the invaders were released.
Recently the British Home Office issued a statement saying that in the British government's view Sealand remains British territory and that if there are grounds to suspect that its occupants have broken British law action will be taken.
The nation of Sealand is composed of a steel and concrete platform anchored to the bottom of the sea off the coast of England, not in the Channel but in the North Sea. Once known as Roughs Tower, it was built by the British military in what were then international waters anywhere beyond 3 nautical miles from the coast as a defense against Germany during World War II. The fortress is located about 7 nautical miles from shore at 51° 53' 40" north latitude, 01° 28' 7" east longitude.
The troops abandoned the fort after the war, leaving it legally deserted and abandoned, and easing the way for Englishman Roy Bates and his family to settle there on September 2, 1967. Proclaiming the island his own state, Bates gave the titles of prince and princess to himself and his wife and called his new home the Principality of Sealand.
Prince Roy's sovereignty was contested by the British government in 1968. When Royal Marines were cruising off his "coast," the prince even fired warning shots from the fort's old guns. Soon after, a British court declared it had no jurisdiction outside British territorial waters, thus leaving Sealand its autonomy. Since 1987 English territorial waters have extended from 3 to 12 nautical miles. The principality now has 160,000 citizens, mostly business people who claim secondary citizenship in Sealand but live in their countries of origin.


Seborga


[Sebroga flag before 1729]
to 1729



[Seborga flag 1995-1997]
1995 - 1997



[Seborga flag]
Adopted 1997


Map of Seborga

Hear National Anthem
"Valli di Seborga"
(Valley of Seborga)

Text of National Anthem
From 6 May 1998 Unoffical

Constitution
(23 Apr 1995)
Capital: Seborga

Currency: Seborga
Luigino (SPL)(1994-1996);
Euro (EUR);
to 1 Jan 2002 French Franc
(FRF), Italian Lira (ITL)

National Holiday: 20 Aug (1153)
St. Bernard's Day

Population: 362 (2006)
GDP: $600,000 (2002)

Exports: $325,000 (2002)
Imports: $122,000 (2002)

Ethnic groups: Italian, French, others
Total Security Force: N/A

Religions: Roman Catholic, other
International Organizations/Treaties: None
Seborga Index

Chronology

954 Ceded by counts of Ventimiglia to the monks
of Lerino, Cistercian monastery founded.
1079 Abbots also Princes of Holy Roman Empire,
Principality of Seborga.
(see Italian states before 1860).
20 Jan 1729 Annexed to Piedmont-Sardinia.
23 Apr 1995 Referendum votes in favor of "independence" from
Italy (Principality of Seborga)
(not recognized by Italy).
Seborga website






Princes
1963 - 25 Nov 2009 Giorgio I (b. 1936 - d. 2009)
25 Nov 2009 - 22 May 2010 Alberto Romano -Regent
22 May 2010 - Marcello I (b. 1978?)

Territorial Dispute: 'Independence' not recognized by Italy or any other nation.

note: On 21 May 1995, the news program ARD Weltspiegel (German television) reported from the 'independent Principato di Seborga' at the foot of the Ligurian Alps in Italy (near the border with France). At the end of Apr 1995, the majority of the inhabitants (304 against 4) of this tiny village voted in favor of independence.
Giorgio Carbone, the so-called "prince" of Seborga, claims the independence of that village, but it had been annexed by the Kingdom of Sardinia (ruled by the House of Savoy) on 20 Jan 1729. Before that date the village wasn't a Principality, but a feudal possession of the of the Cistercian Order. The inhabitants might have voted for the independence in an illegal referendum made by Carbone, but they still vote in the legal elections of the Republic of Italy, as demonstrated by at (www.parlamento.it) And the mayor, Franco Fogliarini, democratically elected by the citizens of the municipality of Seborga on 13 May 2001, is openly against the independence of Carbone's "Principality", as demonstrated by his interview in article at (www.lapadania.com). After Carbone's death 31 year old building contractor, Marcello Menegatto is elected prince for the next 7 years as Marcello I.