A micronation is a political entity whose representatives claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by any sovereign state. Micronations are classified separately from de facto states and quasi-states; they are also not considered to be autonomous nor self-governing as they lack the legal basis in international law for their existence. The activities of micronations are almost always trivial enough to be ignored rather than disputed by the established nations whose territory they claim—referred to in micronationalism as "macronations". Several micronations have issued coins, flags, postage stamps, passports, medals and other state-related items, some as a source of revenue. Motivations for the creation of micronations include theoretical experimentation, political protest, artistic expression, personal entertainment and the conduct of criminal activity. The study of micronationalism is known as micropatriology or micropatrology.
The Principality of Hutt River, often referred to by its former name, the Hutt River Province, was an unrecognized micronation in Australia, proclaimed on 21 April 1970 when farmer Leonard Casley declared his farm to be a sovereign state, the "Hutt River Province". He claimed to have seceded from Australia, which occurred during his dispute with the authorities concerning wheat production quotas. A few years later, Casley began styling himself as "Prince Leonard" and granting family members royal titles, although he did not include the word "principality" in the official name until 2006. In 2017, Casley's claim to rulership was taken over by his son Graeme, who dropped the claim to sovereignty on 3 August 2020.
The Empire of Atlantium is a micronation and secular, pluralist progressive lobby group based in New South Wales, Australia.
H2O: Just Add Water, also known as H2O, is an Australian fantasy children and teen drama TV show created by Jonathan M. Shiff. It first screened on Australia's Network Ten and as of 2009 ran in syndication in over 120 countries with a worldwide audience of more than 250 million. It was filmed on location at Sea World and other locations on the Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. The show revolves around three teenage girls facing everyday teen problems with an added twist: they become mermaids with unique, supernatural powers over water.
Molossia, officially the Republic of Molossia, is a micronation claiming sovereignty over 11.3 acres of land near Dayton, Nevada. The micronation has not received recognition from any of the member states of the United Nations. It was founded by Kevin Baugh. He continues to pay property taxes on the land to Storey County, the recognized local government, although he calls it "foreign aid". He has stated "We all want to think we have our own country, but you know the United States is a lot bigger".
Australia's Got Talent is an Australian reality television talent show. The show is based on the Got Talent series format that originated in the United Kingdom with Simon Cowell.
Talossa, also known as the Kingdom of Talossa, is one of the earliest micronations – founded in 1979 by then-14-year-old Robert Ben Madison of Milwaukee and at first confined to his bedroom; he adopted the name after discovering that the word means "inside the house" in Finnish. Among the first such projects still maintained, it has kept up a web presence since 1995. Its internet and media exposure since the late 1990s contributed to the appearance of other subsequent internet micronations.
The Kingdom of Elleore is a micronation located on the island of Elleore in the Roskilde Fjord, north of Roskilde on the Danish island of Zealand.
Micronations: The Lonely Planet Guide to Home-Made Nations is an Australian gazetteer about micronations, published in September 2006 by Lonely Planet. It was written by John Ryan, George Dunford and Simon Sellars. Self-described as a humorous guidebook and written in a light-hearted tone, the book's profile of micronations offers information on their flags, leaders, currencies, maps and other facts. It was re-subtitled Guide to Self-Proclaimed Nations in later publications.
10 Peach is an Australian free-to-air television channel operated by Network 10. It was launched on 11 January 2011 as Eleven. It is owned by ElevenCo, which was established as a joint venture between Ten Network Holdings and CBS Studios International; the latter would ultimately acquire Network 10 in 2017.
The Principality of Wy is a claimed micronation in Australia that is located in the Sydney suburb of Mosman.
Mako: Island of Secrets is an Australian television programme for children and teenagers created by Jonathan M. Shiff. Internationally released as Mako Mermaids, the show is a spin-off of H2O: Just Add Water and is produced by Jonathan M. Shiff Productions in association with Network Ten, ZDF and Netflix.
The Empire of Austenasia is a micronation founded in 2008 in the United Kingdom. Operating under the constitutional monarchy of its fourth Emperor, Jonathan I, it consists of dozens of properties that have declared themselves independent under the leadership of a house in the London Borough of Sutton.
The Grand Duchy of Flandrensis is a micronation with claims over some territories of Antarctica, which was founded in 2008 by the Belgian Niels Vermeersch. Flandrensis is not recognised by any country or government, nor it is in their intention to get diplomatic recognition. Since 2021 the micronation is registered in Belgium as the environmental non-profit organization “vzw Groothertogdom Flandrensis”.
MicroCon is a biennial summit or conference of micronationalists held in odd-numbered years since April 11, 2015. The event was created by Kevin Baugh of the Republic of Molossia, and every summit since has been hosted by a different micronation. MicroCon is a significant event in the micronational community, serving as a venue for exchanging ideas between micronationalists. The event has also been compared to the micronational equivalent of a session of the United Nations General Assembly. The largest edition, MicroCon 2019 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, had 113 attendees from 43 micronations. MicroCon 2023 was the first edition to consist of two separate events: an American summit in Joliet, Illinois, and a European summit in Ypres, Belgium.
Grace Beside Me is an Australian fantasy drama television series for children which premiered on NITV on 16 February 2018 and later aired on ABC Me. The series is based on the novel Grace Beside Me, by Sue McPherson, and was filmed in the Scenic Rim Region in South East Queensland. The television adaptation was produced by a team composed entirely of women, including Aboriginal screenwriters.
Leonard George Casley, better known as Prince Leonard, was the founder of the self-proclaimed micronation, the Principality of Hutt River, within the Australian state of Western Australia. He governed Hutt River from 21 April 1970 until his abdication in February 2017, at a coronation ceremony that placed his son Prince Graeme on the throne.
MicroWiki is a free online encyclopedia about micronations launched in 2005. It has since become the principal way in which Internet users document micronational matters, as most do not meet Wikipedia's notability requirements. It is maintained by volunteers using the same MediaWiki software as Wikipedia. MicroWiki describes itself as "the largest encyclopedia about micronations".
Micronations and the Search for Sovereignty is a non-fiction book written by the Australian lawyers and legal academics Harry Hobbs and George Williams about micronations and their legal status within international law. Written from an academic perspective, it is one of few works on micronational movements and the earliest-published book to focus largely on the legal aspect of micronations. The book concerns the definition of statehood, the place of micronations within international law, people's motivations for declaring them, the micronational community and the ways by which such entities mimic sovereign states.
