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UNO: Under-recognized Nations Organization |
Many new nations have difficulty obtaining recognition from the larger, more established nations - legacy nations as we prefer to call them - and from international organizations. The Under-recognized Nations Organization, or UNO, was founded to help address the needs of these nations.
Through a process of mutual recognition, the UNO helps establish a credible international identity for newly founded nations. The UNO also provides a forum for free exchange of information between these nations, helping them share experience in relevant issues. And the UNO assists new micronations in establishing viable internal institutions through our voluntary national sponsorship program.
Membership in the UNO is voluntary. States are not required to apply, although all applications are welcome. Any state that can provide plausible evidence of existance, preferrably a website, will be automatically included.
The UNO is in no way affiliated with Micronations.net, which we consider to be essentially frivolous. The UNO does recognise the League of Micronations, which we feel has essentially complementary goals, but they do not seem to recognise us...
The Conch Republic was established by secession of the Florida Keys from the United States of America, on April 23rd, 1982 in response to a United States Border Patrol Blockade setup on highway U.S.1 at Florida City just to the north of the Florida Keys.
Key West Mayor Dennis Wardlow along with a few other 'key' Conchs, went to Federal court in Miami to seek an injunction to stop the federal blockade, but to no avail. Upon leaving the Federal Court House , on the court house steps , Mayor Wardlow announced to the world, by way of the assembled TV crews and reporters, that ; "Tomorrow at noon the Florida Keys will secede from the Union!"
At noon, on the day of secession, at Mallory Square in Key West Florida, Mayor Wardlow read the proclamation of secession and proclaimed aloud that the Conch Republic was an independent nation separate from the U.S. and then symbolically began the Conch Republic's Civil Rebellion by breaking a loaf of stale Cuban bread over the head of a man dressed in a U.S. Navy uniform. After one minute of rebellion, the now, Prime Minister Wardlow turned to the Admiral in charge of the Navy Base at Key West, and surrendered to the Union Forces, and demanded 1 Billion dollars in foreign aid and War Relief to rebuild our nation after the long Federal siege.
For more information visit the Conch Republic website.
Freedonia was established as a virtual state in 1992 as a sort of oligarchy. That system changed to a presidential repulic in 1996. In late 1997 Freedonia became a constitutional monarchy, and as of April 1998 the name of the country was modified from "Republic of Freedonia" to "Principality of Freedonia".
Freedonia is looking into several options in order to give the Principality a sovereign location, most recently a "purchased sovereignty agreement", whereby a nation cedes land to Freedonia in return for economic benefits and possibly other consideration. Several possible locations are being pursued in Africa, Asia, Central America, and Oceania. For more information, visit the Freedonia website.
On the twenty-first day of April 1970, formal notice of secession of the Hutt River Province from Australia was duly served on the Premier Sir David Brand, the Governor Sir Douglas Kendrew, the Acting Prime Minister of Australia Mr John McEwen, and the Governor General of Australia, Sir Paul Hasluck. The formal secession document contained two parts: firstly the secession and secondly the offering of Sovereignty to Her Majesty. The latter is now by judicial law invested with the Government in occupancy.
Having seceded from the Commonwealth of Australia and the State of Western Australia required that the people of the Province elect a Government. A Board of four Administrators with Leonard George Casley as the Administrator was duly elected to govern the seceded area which the Board named the HUTT RIVER PROVINCE. Adoption of a Provincial Flag was also a judicial requirement with which the Board duly complied. For more information, visit the Hutt River website.
This Carribean island close to Antigua is a kingdom, established in 1865. The title to the throne is currently under dispute. UNO recognises the sovereign status of Redonda, but takes no position on whether or not Javier Marias is the rightful king. For more information, visit the Redonda website or visit the other Redonda website
En 1947, pour le Conseil de Révision, Monsieur Ottavianni, préfet du Doubs, en visite à Montbenoît, prend son repas à l'Hôtel de l'abbaye, tenu à l'époque par Monsieur et Madame Georges Pourchet; "Avez-vous un laissez-passer, Monsieur le préfet, pour entrer dans la République du Saugeais ?" demande Monsieur Pourchet. Le préfet sourit, l'hôtelier lui explique ce qu'est cette République. "Mais pour une République, il faut un président ; je vous nomme Président de la République libre du Saugeais". Monsieur Pourchet décédait en 1968. For more information, visit the Saugeais website
The Principality of Sealand occupies an abandoned anti-aircraft tower in the English Channel. Sealand was founded as a sovereign Principality in 1967 in international waters, six miles off the eastern shores of Britain. The island fortress is conveniently situated from 65 to 100 miles from the coasts of France, Belgium, Holland and Germany. The official language of Sealand is English and the Sealand Dollar has a fixed exchange rate of one U.S. dollar. Passports and stamps have been in circulation since 1969, however, contrary to many misleading websites and news articles, Sealand passports are not for sale, and anyone offering such are selling forgeries. Within a radius of 500 miles of Sealand live more than 200 million people who enjoy some of the highest standards of living in the world. This area also encompasses the financial, industrial and cultural heart of Europe. For more information, visit the Sealand website
Once a principality of the Holy Roman Empire, Seborga remains a sovereign state, with an elected price, situated in the Italian alps. See more information at Seborga website
The Kingdom of Talossa is an independent, sovereign nation in North America, which seceded peacefully from the United States in 1979. The Kingdom is located on the western shore of La Már Talossán (Lake Michigan), surrounded by the U.S. city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, but today almost two thirds of the active citizens live in other parts of the United States and Canada, Europe, South America, Asia, and Africa.
For more information, visit the Talossan web site
The USS Abalonia was a concrete cargo ship, constructed for the purpose of becoming an independent nation. The company which built it hoped to anchor it in rich shellfish beds on the Cortes Bank, 100 miles off the coast of San Diego, and claim jurisdiction over the area. Shortly after the Abalonia's launch in 1969, it foundered and sank, nearly killing the crew.
Atlantis was one of the first platform nations. The Atlantis Development Corporation began constructing this platform off the southeast coast of Florida in 1966, hoping to establish a new haven for offshore banking and other activities frowned upon on the mainland. At the same time, a rival company began plans to build a nearby platform called the Grand Capri Republic. Construction actually began on Atlantis, but it was destroyed by a hurricane. The US government launched a lawsuit against both corporations, arguing that any construction of new nations less than five miles off its coast was a detriment to its national security. Predictably, the courts upheld this decision and neither Atlantis nor Grand Capri joined the community of nations.
In the early 1960s, engineering professor Giorgio Rosa constructed a platform eight miles offshore from the Italian city of Rimini. After a storm swamped the platform, another was erected in 1965. The 4,000 square foot platform boasted several businesses. The Italian authorities took little notice of the platform, since it was in international waters at the time, until May 1, 1968, when Rosa declared the platform an independent nation. Two months later, the platform was illegally occupied by the Italian Navy, who then illegally removed Rosa and proceeded to illegally destroy the entire country with dynamite.
The Isle of the Roses is therefore, along with Carthage and New Atlantis, one of the few nations to be utterly removed from the face of the earth by military action.
The Minerva Republic was created in 1971 by dumping sands on the Minerva reefs, about 500km south west of the kingdom of Tonga, with the intention of creating a tax shelter.
Construction began in 1971, and Minerva was declared independent on January 19, 1972. The only nation which responded to Minerva's application for recognition was Tonga. The kingdom sent out a convict work detail to haul down the Minervan flag and build over the platform. Tonga later annexed Minerva to ensure the upstart nation would not re-emerge. Shortly after, Minerva sank beneath the waves.
This nation was founded on an 8'x30' platform in the Caribbean by Leicester Hemingway, Ernest Hemingway's brother. The nation boasted eight citizens during its brief independence in 1964, but was utterly destroyed by fishermen who tore up the platform for the lumber. They did not retrieve the anchor and Ford engine block which tethered New Atlantis. Undaunted, Hemingway anchored another platform christened Tierra del Mar. The U.S. State Department quickly contacted Hemingway and "actively discouraged" any claims of sovereignty, fearing Tierra del Mar could serve as a springboard for annexation of nearby islands from the Bahamas.
Tanna is an island in the south of Vanuatu. The inhabitants were converted to Presbyterianism around the turn of the century. However, membership began to decline during the 1930s. Church officials discovered that they were losing adherents to a cargo cult called the John Frum movement. John Frum, who always wore a spotless white suit and a hat with a veil, appeared to several shamans and said that if the Tannese lived honestly, he would summon the Americans to build factories and show the Tannese how to become a rich nation. The cult's success was ensured by American occupation during the Second World War.
When the British and French began discussing independence for the Condominium of Vanuatu during the 1970s, France was keenly interested to retain a foothold in the archipelago. The French government began supporting John Frum by allowing the cult leaders to form a private militia and donating vehicles. In elections just prior to independence, a John Frum representative won a seat in the national legislature. Several moderate parties accused the cult of vote fraud. In response, John Frum leaders announced on February 15, 1980, that Tanna and four other southern islands had seceded as the nation of Tafea (an acronym formed from the names of the islands).
No action was taken until May 26, when Tafea supporters stormed government offices on Tanna. Interestingly enough, French officials disappeared shortly before the revolt began. On the next day, Vanuatan government forces landed on Tanna. After a short firefight, the John Frum forces dispersed, promptly quashing Tafea's hopes for independence. The simultaneous revolt on Espiritu Santo raises serious questions about coordination of the independence movements, whether through the good offices of France or the Phoenix Foundation.
Tavolara is a tiny island located off the northeast coast of Sardinia. Abandoned, the island was resettled by Corsicas in the early 19th century. The islanders found themselves outside the notice of the world, which ended when King Charles Albert of Savoy visited the island in 1836. Agreeing with the settlers' claim that Tavolara was outside the jurisdiction of Sardinia, Charles Albert recognized the Tavolaran leader Paolo Bertoleoni as King. The Kingdom of Tavolara thus became the world's smallest kingdom, at about half a square kilometer. The Kingdom basically ceased to exist when the Italian government evicted the inhabitants to make way for a NATO submarine base. The remainder of the island is now a nature preserve.