Micronations on the rise
By Jessica Moser
2-1-13
Can you locate Aramoana on a map? What about Talossa? No? Have you ever heard of New Atlantas? If you
can’t and haven’t don’t worry. These places do not exist on any atlas as of
yet. They are what have commonly become known as micronations.
As we see a rise in
the popularity of dystopian novels such as the Hunger Games series or the
Divergent series we also see a rising trend in the formation of micronations.
Micronations are usually classified as nation-state simulations, modle
countries/ utopians, or self-proclaimed entities that claim to be soveregin
states which have not been recogonized as such by any recogonized soveregin
state or supernational organization.
So, why create a new country? And, are the people who do
actually serious? There are several answers to these questions.
Some micronations are created out of necesity or desperation,
others out of creativity and still others for theoretical experimentation,
political protest, artistic expression, personal entertainment and the conduct
of criminal activity. A micronation most often seems to be an ideal environment
for those who are interested in politics and communities to meet a diverst
range of interesting people and experiment with different types of governments.
Citizens of micronations have been known to participate in
voting, creating currency and national flags, writing for newspapers, running
ministries and even waging civil wars (in which they hack into another
micronation’s website and destroy it).
The seriousness of their creators ranges in varying degrees
from very serious to that of someone playing a game such as an mmorpg (mass
multiplayer o role playing game).
If you research the subject of micronations you will come
across a pelthora of information from published books to newspaper articles in
the New York Times to documentaries. There are more than 125 known micronations
in the United States alone and the numbers are rising every year.
Micronations have been in existance as early as 954 AD;
however, they have taken on a huge rise in popularity since the introduction of
the internet.
Some of the most noteworthy micronations are as follows.
Seborga founded in 954 AD was a town in the Italian region
of Liguria that claims to never have been a part of the modern Italian state.
Llanrwst, a town in North Wales declared a “free borough” in
1276 by a Welsh prince. It applied to the United Nations in 1947 and was
unsuccessful.
The Kingdom of Talossa is a constitutional monarchy founded
by Robert Ben Madison in 1979. He was a high school student in Milwaukee, WI
who declared his bedroom to be a sovereign state. You can find it at www.talossa.com. The site’s citizens have
claimed to have inspired the propagation of online micronations.
One of the newest additions to the groing trend of online
pledged micronations is Larsonia, found at Larsonia.com. This micronation was
Established in August 2012 by Jeremy Larson, self-proclaimed King. It is
comprised of “brave souls trying to establish a new country.” The mission
statement : “to learn from our pas, creat a model future, and to establish a
group of like minded people that want to talk about, plan, create and
eventually live on our claimed lands.
Larsonia is a constitutional monarchy with 33 citizens so
far. It’s claimed territories include: all areas at or below 60 degrees south
on the planet Earth (the entire continent of Antartica), current domiciles of
citizens of Larsonia throughout the world,(2010 Tk7) the only known Earth
Trojan Asteroid – renamed Thai-Tang, and several other celestial territories which can be viewed on the
country’s web site at www.larsonia.com.
As this trend of new micronations grows we can expect to see
some fizzle out with the enthusiasim of its creators and citizens; however, it
is evident that with the freedom of expression there will be many more new
countries/ micronations to come before this trend reaches its pinicle or
downfall.
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