Freedonia

  • Micronations
  • Founded 1933
  • Creator Groucho Marx

Freedonia is a fictional country created by Groucho Marx for the film Duck Soup—released by Paramount Pictures in 1933. The film parodied war and dictatorship, dipping right into the zeitgeist. Despite the tepid critical response at the time, Duck Soup is now seen as a classic political farce. The name Freedonia became part of American vocabulary, used to refer to any fictional country with similar characteristics to the country in the film: autocracy, diminutiveness, and obscurity, to name a few. Other Freedonia’s have since been established but this was the first.

Explore De Facto

Somaliland

Somaliland is a self-declared state, internationally considered to be an autonomous region of Somalia. It lies in northwestern Somalia, on the southern coast of the Gulf of Aden. After the overthrow of Somali military dictator Siad Barr, the former British protectorate declared independence in 1991. Somaliland is ranked as partly free by Freedom House, and maintains informal ties with some foreign governments. The de facto state issues its own money: the Somaliland shilling. However, Somaliland’s self-proclaimed independence remains unrecognized by any country or international organization.

Ceuta & Melilla

Ceuta and Melilla are Spanish exclaves on the north coast of Africa, separated from the Spanish mainland by the Strait of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea. The government of Morocco has repeatedly called for Spain to transfer the sovereignty of Ceuta and Melilla, together with the rest of the Spanish plazas de soberanía on the North African coast to Morocco. Morocco has claimed that the territories are colonies.

Kingdom of Lovely

The internet based micronation Kingdom of Lovely was the result of a television program hosted by British comedian Danny Wallace: ‘How To Start Your Own Country’. The initial location for the micronation was Wallace’s own flat in London. Anyone could become an ambassador simply by registering online and sending in a photograph of your ‘embassy’ with the flag. Wallace also attempted to get the Kingdom recognized by the United Nations, which failed as he did not have any independent territory.