Micronations

image source 

Here's a bit of alternate geography, these self-proclaimed countries called micronations.  As our friends at Wikipedia tell us (and have you donated to Wikipedia yet this year?  I have):

A micronation, sometimes referred to as a model country or new country project, is an entity that claims to be an independent nation or state but is not recognized by world governments or major international organizations.

Micronations are distinguished from imaginary countries and from other kinds of social groups (such as eco-villages, campuses, tribes, clans, sects, and residential community associations) by expressing a formal and persistent, even if unrecognized, claim of sovereignty over some physical territory. Micronations are also distinct from true secessionist movements; micronations' activities are almost always trivial enough to be ignored rather than challenged by the established nations whose territory they claim.

          Find that here.  

Lots useful here--the distinction from secessionist movements, which get everyone bent out of shape, and the notion that such sovereignty involves a claim over physical territory.  Ah, such...last century thinking.

Here's a visual for where they've popped up:

map address

Business Insider points at what they claim are the "most interesting micronations".  North Dumpling Island does sound intriguing:  "Summer home of Dean Kamen, the man who invented the Segway, North Dumpling Island is a small piece of land off the coast of Connecticut. Kamen, or “Lord Dumpling” as he likes to refer to himself, even got then-president George H. W. Bush to sign a “non-aggression” pact with the nation of North Dumpling. The island is powered by a wind turbine, solar panels, a helipad, and a replica of Stonehenge."

And of course, there's a web page on how-to-do-it-yourself, which I'm going to ignore...

I rather like the micronation of Sealand, and am contemplating becoming a Lord or Baron for 44.99$.  I'd go for the coffee mug, but I'm guessing the shipping rates aren't friendly.

And why all this obscure interest in micronations?  Besides having just turned in my very last set of grades for this semester?  More to come...

later, bob