5 People Who Founded Countries from Their Couches

As far as goals go, owning your own home is a pretty standard item on the American Dream checklist. But what about owning your own sovereign nation? Whether it was Leicester Hemingway (brother to that Hemingway) laying claim to half an island off the coast of Jamaica or British comedian Danny Wallace starting a country out of his London flat for a documentary, people around the world have been finding reasons to create their own countries for decades. These entities, called micronations, are almost universally tiny—often a few acres or less—and generally aren't recognized by states or international organizations in any official capacity. But what they lack in validity and territory, they make up for in strangeness. Take a look at these people who really do consider their home their castle.

Roy Bates, Prince of The Principality of Sealand

Six miles off Britain’s east shore (and thus technically in international waters) sits a WWII sea fort, pictured above. Following the war, the military abandoned the fort and turned a blind eye as it served a pirate radio station. It was this very function that first attracted Bates’ attention. On September 2^nd 1967, he occupied the fort and declared himself Prince. He and his son have since minted currency and produced stamps. Thanks to both a 1968 court decision that ruled the fort outside British jurisdiction and a foiled 1978 coup involving a German diplomat (he was sent to negotiate the release of the "traitor," a German national), Sealand also asserts that they have the de facto recognition of both England and Germany.

Kevin Baugh, President of The Republic of Molossia

On September 3^rd 1999, Kevin Baugh declared himself the President of the Republic of Molossia, a country that encompasses the entire 1.3 acres of his Dayton, Nevada home. Due to the threat of surrounding countries—that is, the United States—he quickly declared martial law and has since used his power to ban catfish, bagged spinach, and plastic shopping bags. Baugh does, however, welcome visitors and offer tours. He even stamps passports at customs. In 2008, Molossia claimed to be fighting a war against East Germany. According to their website, there is no end in sight.

Edwin Lipburger of The Republic of Kugelmugel

What began as a creative building project by artist Edwin Lipburger in the 1970’s quickly turned into something more when Lipburger’s sphere-shaped house ran afoul of Austrian building codes. In 1984, he declared independence, giving the house a new address (No. 1 Anti-Fascism Square, according to a Wikipedia translation), printing stamps, and refusing to pay Austrian taxes. The court handed him a prison sentence, but public outcry convinced the Austrian President to pardon him. Though the house is now uninhabited and surrounded by barbed wire, it remains a popular tourist destination.

Eric Lis, Emperor of the Aerican Empire

In 1987 at age 5, Canadian Eric Lis founded the Aerican Empire. For the first years of its existence, Aerica was entirely imaginary, but thanks to the internet presence of other micronations and an article in The New York Times, it grew in size and seriousness. Now, in addition to minting two coins, Lis has created games and myths and holidays (January 2^nd, for instance, is Procrastinator’s Day). Though more virtual than some other micro nations, Aerica’s two hundred plus citizens have, at various times, claimed twenty-five square feet of Montreal, Pluto’s northern hemisphere, a reservoir in Alberta, a park in Melbourne, a Mars colony, and an island in the middle of a New Zealand lake as territory.

James Thomas Mangan, Representative of The Nation of Celestial Space (or, Celestia)

Almost a decade before NASA was founded, James Thomas Mangan was thinking about space. On January 1^st 1949, he laid claim to all of it. As an advertiser in Worth, Illinois, Mangan was known for self-promotion. When he went to register Celestia with the county Recorder of Deeds, he even brought a TV crew. After initial failure, he turned to the state attorney general, who finally granted his request. He went on to mint coins and print stamps that collectors clamored for and worked constantly to get Celestia recognized as a country (one, he insisted, that would be free from democracy and taxes). While more macro in territory than micro, Celestia was treated just the same as most micronations today. The UN ignored Mangan’s applications, and the US and Soviet space programs disregarded his trespassing notices. The general consensus seems to be that Mangan’s claim died with him.