Currently, the UN includes 193 sovereign states and 2 observer states. But in this article we will talk about completely different territorial entities, the founders of which proclaimed them states.
Visiting these countries is a rather difficult idea, at least because a limited number of people know about their existence.
Republic of Malu-Ventou
This name was given in 2008 to the island of Mal di Ventre, located near the western coast of Sardinia, who captured it by the former truck driver Salvatore Meloni, who declared it an independent republic. He declared himself president, and founded the residence in a tent. In 2012, Meloni was tried for seizing the island, which sentenced him to 20 months in prison. In 2017, Salvatore was again detained, after which he put forward demands to recognize him as a political prisoner, declaring a hunger strike. He died 2 months later.
Republic of Lakota
The creation of this state was announced in December 2007 by Russell Means and a group of Indians who called themselves the Lakota Freedom Delegation. They announced their withdrawal from the treaties concluded between the ancestors of the Lakota tribe and the US government, notifying the US State Department. In the same year, Mins sent an appeal to a number of countries to recognize the independence of the republic. The unrecognized republic covers parts of the states of North and South Dakota, Montana, Nebraska and Wyoming and is characterized by the lowest standard of living in the United States, high infant mortality, teenage suicides and mass alcoholism.
Christiania
This is the name of the city in one of the quarters of Copenhagen, created on the site of abandoned barracks, illegally occupied in 1971 by a group of hippies who declared this territory a free city. The number of the self-proclaimed country is almost a thousand people. And although the citizens of Christiania pay taxes to the treasury of Denmark, this area is considered to be partly self-governing state within a state.
Kingdom of Elleor
Denmark, and in particular Copenhagen, are rich in the formation of virtual states. In 1944, a group of school teachers bought Elleor Island to set up a summer camp at the site. By proclaiming the territory a kingdom and declaring its independence, they elected their monarch and created their traditions in the style of a soft parody of the political structure of Denmark. At the moment, the number of subjects of the unrecognized state is slightly more than 260 people, and the monarch Leo III rules the kingdom.
Republic of Užupis
This is the name of one of the quarters of Vilnius, proclaimed in 1997 by the inhabitants of this territory as an independent republic. The bulk of the citizens of Užupis are artists and creative people. The republic has its own currency, flag, anthem, president, cabinet, 12-member army, and a constitution written by Romas Lileikis and Tomas Chepaitis. The Republic of Užupis, numbering about 7,000 people, is a kind of parody of the country's political system.
Vestarctica
In the autumn of 2001, the only neutral territory of the frozen continent, located on the territory of Mary Bird in West Antarctica, was the Grand Duchy of Vestarctica. The author of the announcement was Marine Travis McHenry. And although in fact no one lives there, about 300 people are citizens of the duchy.
Republic of Conque
In the spring of 1982, the mayor of Key West, Dennis Wardlow, in response to the introduction by the US authorities of the border patrol in the Florida Keys archipelago, proclaimed the archipelago an independent republic, naming it after most of the local population (Bahamians of European descent). This fact has increased the influx of tourists to the archipelago, each of whom can become a virtual citizen of the republic by buying a local passport as a souvenir.
Ladonia
Founded in 1996 on the territory of the Kullaberg Nature Reserve (southern Sweden) by the artist Lars Wilks, the state belongs to virtual countries. And although its citizens are almost 20 thousand people, in fact no one lives in this territory. Residents of the unrecognized state are divided into social classes, including the nobility, ordinary/honorary citizens and saints.
Wirtlandia
At the moment, it is the only state that does not have a de facto territory and is based exclusively in virtual space. The date of its foundation is August 14, 2008. Currently, a little less than 9 thousand people have become citizens of Wirtland.
Asgardia
The world's first state not on planet Earth, founded in October 2016 by Russian scientist and businessman Igor Ashurbeyli. In fact, it is located on the Asgardia-1 satellite, launched into space at the end of 2017. To date, the number of this country has more than 1 million people.
Did you have any desire to establish your own state?
