On 19 January 1972, the libertarian millionaire Michael J. Oliver declared the independence of the Republic of Minerva in the Pacific Ocean. On the reefs he reclaimed from the sea with tons of sand shipped in from Australia, there would be ‘not any form of economic interventionism’. His act was not accepted by Tonga, the rightful owner of the reefs.

A Chinese invasion of Taiwan in 2026 would result in thousands of casualties among Chinese, United States, Taiwanese and Japanese forces, and it would be unlikely to result in a victory for Beijing, according to a prominent independent Washington think tank.

China is building up several unoccupied land features in the South China Sea, according to Western officials, an unprecedented move they said was part of Beijing’s long-running effort to strengthen claims to disputed territory in a region critical to global trade.

In the depths of the countryside in eastern Germany, there’s an invisible border.

Apple has added the Paracel and the Spratly archipelagos into its Apple Maps application following a request by Vietnamese authorities.

Italian photographers Lavinia Parlamenti and Manfredi Pantanella are working on An Atlas of countries that ‘don’t exist’ which will cover ten unrecognized states. Their aim is to make a photo book with the five places they covered so far: Transnistria, Catalonia, Nagorno Karabakh, Northern Cyprus and Western Sahara. Find out more about their project or make a donation on kickstarter.

For decades, China has coveted its island neighbor. Is Xi Jinping ready to seize it?

The International Documentary Festival Amsterdam in the Netherlands opens tomorrow. Many great films, and quite a few about curious borders and statehood. The festival will take place from November 9 till 20 in cinemas across the city. De Facto selected one installation and three movies.

The UK has agreed to open negotiations with Mauritius over the future handover of the Chagos Islands, in a major reversal of policy following years of resistance and legal defeats in international courts. The intended agreement will allow for the return of former inhabitants of the Chagos archipelago who were forcibly displaced by the British government in the 1960s and 1970s.

A Country of Seven Billion Outhabitants, the long read by De Facto’s co-founder Jorie Horsthuis about EuroStaete, was selected for the editorial project The Writings on the Wall, a collaboration of Volume and Beta, the Timisoara Architecture Biennial 2022.

Five years ago, on 27 October 2017, the Catalan parliament declared independence after 92% of voters backed splitting from the rest of Spain in a referendum Madrid deemed illegal. Immediately after, the Spanish government imposed direct rule, sacked its leaders and dissolved the parliament. Is there any hope left for the separatists?

By some estimations, Australia hosts around a third of the world’s self-declared micronations. There are three good reasons why

President says he supports peaceful reunification but will ‘never promise to renounce use of force’.

De Facto was invited to participate at the Architectural Biennial of Timisoara in Romania: Beta 2022. One of the themes was the micronation.

Leicester Hemingway, the younger brother of Ernest, installed a raft just outside Jamaica’s territorial waters and named it New Atlantis. With the hopes to make this a real island, he raised a flag, sold stamps, and even issued his own currency.

This weekend the Buffer Fringe Festival starts in Nicosia (Cyprus). Logically the division of the island and how it affects the people is a recurring topic. Explorer Olaf van Muijden selected some works for De Facto.

Olga Valeyeva, who won the Miss Crimea 2022 beauty pageant, and an unnamed friend were found guilty of ‘discrediting’ the Russian army by singing the patriotic Ukrainian song ‘Chervona Kalyna’ on a balcony.

De Facto explores the realm of unrecognized states, fictional countries and curious border zones. On September 22 we had a great evening with talks, art and music at De Roode Bioscoop in Amsterdam.

Declaring that Russia would annex four regions of Ukraine, which the West rejects as illegal, the Russian president accused the U.S. and its allies of ‘despotism’ and ‘Satanism’.

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s plan to illegally annex four partially occupied regions in eastern and southern Ukraine lurched forward Tuesday, as Russian officials and Kremlin proxy leaders claimed that staged referendums showed that more than 95 percent of voters want to join Russia — an absurd level of support.

The De Facto team is heading to the Architecture Biennial in Timisoara (Romania). Floor Koomen and Jorie Horsthuis will give a talk about unrecognized states, curious borders and micronations and will participate in a debate with Theo Deutinger and Giovanni Comoglio. Join us for this event!

Remember to reserve your seat for our upcoming event on September 22 at the Roode Bioscoop in Amsterdam. An evening with talks, art and music. With former correspondent Joeri Boom about Kashmir, a flag for a unified Korea and music from unheard places by Dusty Stray.

The Kremlin wants to return to the age when Russia dominated its neighbors across Eurasia. Instead, it’s driving them away.

Armenia has said nearly 50 of its soldiers have been killed in clashes along the border with Azerbaijan, in the worst escalation of hostilities since a 2020 war.

A Chinese couple plotted to set up a mini-state on the Marshall Islands in the Pacific, bribing MPs and officials along the way, US prosecutors say. The man and woman tried to persuade lawmakers to set up a ‘Semi-Autonomous Region’ (SAR) on a remote atoll.

For the first issue of the recently launched European Review of Books De Facto’s Floor Koomen wrote a contribution on places in limbo. Notes from Bir Tawil (unclaimed), Transnistria (claimed) and Nutopia (unclaimable).

De Facto explores the realm of unrecognized states, fictional countries and curious border zones. On September 22 we organize a live evening with talks, art and music at De Roode Bioscoop in Amsterdam. Join us!

De Facto Territories is a regular column by De Facto’s Floor Koomen on Source Type, a new platform on Typographic Research & Visual Literacy. The series will be exploring the relationship between design objects, politics, and territories. The first column goes into the details on a Transnistrian stamp.

When Indians mark 75 years of independence this month, poet Zareef Ahmad and others in Kashmir may feel there’s not much to celebrate.

August 2022 is the 30th anniversary of the beginning of the war between the Georgians and the Abkhazians in the decades-long dispute over ownership of the small territory known to the autochthonous Abkhazians as Apsny and to the Georgians as apxazeti. This project aims to bring together different points of view on Abkhazia.