This is nifty. I picked it up at Secret Garden Books yesterday. It’s a travel guide listing several dozen “micronations,” defined on Wikipedia as “entities that resemble independent nations or states but which are unrecognized by world governments or major international organizations.”
Here’s the “Getting There & Away” info for the Principality of Sealand, a micronation located on an abandoned sea fortress in the English Channel:
Transport to Sealand is a tricky thing. There are no regular scheduled services, and arriving unannounced can be seriously detrimental to your health. Just ask the British navy!
On 1 February 2002, Sealand suspended its visa program, meaning that no travellers are granted visitation rights. The vague reason for this change of policy was ‘the current international situation and other factors,’ although the gradual decline of their one-and-only tenant HavenCo and ongoing economic and political uncertainty would surely have contributed to the decision.
Should visits be permitted in the future, the best bet would be to charter a boat from the English port town of Felixstowe Ferry. Once you arrive, be prepared to be winched up to the landing platform.
Other micronations covered in the book include the Principality of Hutt River, the Gay & Lesbian Kingdom of the Coral Sea Islands, Akhzivland, and Westarctica.
While looking up some of the micronations on the web, I also came across the Unrecognised States Numismatic Society, for people who collect coins of the microrealms.
I went to Hutt River last year! Interesting place, and Prince Len was old-school courteous and informative.
I am envious of your nuclear icebreaker trip.
Interestingly, the Principality of Sealand is a standard case in German first-semester classes in constitutional law. The question is whether Sealand meets all criteria of a nation state, territory, government, people. The problem of Sealand regarding this triangle of criteria is that of territory. It is widely accepted that a nationstate must have a solid, natural piece of ground. Sealand exists because it is connected to the ground by a concrete pylon. That, according to experts in international law, is not sufficient for constituting a nationstate. If it were, every offshore platform might claim nation status…
Greetings from Germany
Christoph