Abkhazia

Abkhazia lies on the eastern coast of the Black Sea, flanked by Russia to the North and Georgia to the South. In 1990, just before the dissolution of the USSR, Abkhazia declared its sovereignty. This was not accepted by neighbor state Georgia nor the government in Moscow and led to an armed conflict in 1992 which lasted for 14 months. The Georgian troops were forced to leave Abkhazia and in 1994 a new constitution was drawn. It was adopted by popular referendum in 1999 after which Abkhazia once again declared its State Sovereignty. However, it was only after Abkhazian forces fought against Georgian forces during the Russo-Georgian War in 2008 that Abkhazia was formally recognized by Russia. It is also recognized as an independent state by Venezuela, Nicaragua, Syria, Nauru, South Ossetia, Transnistria and Nagorno-Karabakh. The Parliament of Georgia still considers Abkhazia as an autonomous republic within its territory.

Black Hills

The Black Hills are the oldest mountain range in the United States, and home to the largest dispute between the US government and Native Americans. The dispute stems from the 1868 Treaty of Fort Laramie which awarded the Black Hills to the Sioux Nation. Shortly after, gold was discovered and the United States changed the treaty to deny the Sioux rights to the land. In 1980, the US Supreme Court ruled the move to be illegal and awarded the Sioux $106 million. However, the payment, now worth over $1.3 billion, has been blocked by part of the Sioux Nation claiming the land was never for sale. The battle over the Black Hills has been carved into the granite of the mountains themselves. Mount Rushmore displays the heads of four famous US Presidents, the memorial to Native American icon Crazy Horse is still under construction.

State of Jefferson

The State of Jefferson is a collection of counties in Southern Oregon and Northern California. It was established on November 27th in 1941, when armed men roadblocked the borders and informed all vehicles about the new territory they were entering. The two X’s inside the gold pan on their flag symbolize the feeling of being double crossed by politicians when modernization shifted tax dollars away from their communities. Jeffersonians’ dreams of independence were derailed only days after, when Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, thrusting the U.S. into WWII. The war effort took priority over independence, but the flags didn’t disappear. In 2013, there was a resurgence when several counties voted to secede from California and become the 51st state of America. The State of Jefferson is not to be confused with Calexit, California’s other secession movement looking to separate California from the United States.