HISTORY OF MICRONATIONS
On 3 October 1990, East Germany was reunited with West Germany after the collapse of the Soviet Union. It might come as a surprise, then, to learn that the Republic of Molossia still claims to be at war with the defunct state. Never heard of Molossia? You wouldn’t be the first. Located in Nevada (having been moved from Oregon) and made up of 6.3 acres, this military dictatorship has a currency tied to the value of cookie dough and views walruses as a form of contraband. Though it may sound like something out of a Monty Python sketch, Molossia is part of the wacky world of micronations, where anything is possible.
The defines a micronation as “an entity, typically existing only on the internet or within the private property of its members, that lays claim to sovereign status as an independent nation, but which is unrecognised by real nations.” As such, micronations have been founded on land, at sea and even in outer space. Any attempt to provide an exhaustive history of these strange wannabe sovereign states would be futile, but we can highlight some of the most notable and most peculiar, from Ernest Hemingway’s brothers’ attempt to found a New Atlantis to the Nation of Celestial Space. So come with us on a whistle-stop tour through the history and magical realms of
