Gibraltar

  • Contested territories
  • Controlled by United Kingdom
  • Claimed by Spain
  • Capital Gibraltar
  • Population 32,194
  • Area 6.7 km²
  • Motto Badge of the Rock of Gibraltar

Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory located at the southern tip of Spain. It is self-governing, with some responsibilities remaining with the British government. Spain also asserts a claim to Gibraltar, but the inhabitants have rejected proposals for Spanish sovereignty in several referendums. Gibraltar is strategically important, with half the world’s seaborne trade passing through the strait. Furthermore, it is one of the most densely populated territories in the world, with approximately 4,959 inhabitants per square kilometre. Its economy is based largely on tourism, online gambling, financial services and cargo ship refuelling. The Rock of Gibraltar is an iconic feature of the territory.

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South Ossetia

South Ossetia is a de facto state in South Caucasus, which declared independence from Georgia in 1991. Military conflicts with the Georgian army occurred in 1991-1992, 2004 and 2008. South Ossetia is recognized as a state by the UN member states Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua, Nauru, and Syria, and by the unrecognized states Transnistria, Abkhazia and Nagorno-Karabakh. It is a very mountainous region at the juncture of Asia and Europe, which struggles economically as employment and supplies are scarce. The region relies heavily on military, political and financial aid from Russia.

Glorioso Islands

The Glorieuses lie north of Madagaskar and is made up of Grande Glorieuse, Île du Lys and eight rock islets—together they form a coral reef and a lagoon. In 1880 Frenchman Hippolyte Caltaux settled and started a coconut plantation on the largest island, Grande Glorieuse. In the late 19th century the islands were officially claimed by the French and became part of the colony of Mayotte, an insular department of France in the Indian Ocean. The Comores and Madagaskar both claim the islands but the French reinstated their claim when the France–Seychelles Maritime Boundary Agreement was drawn in 2001. Fifteen soldiers are stationed on the islands to ensure the sovereignty of France.

Molossia

Originally founded in 1977 as the Grand Republic of Vuldstein, The Republic of Molossia is a micronation run by Kevin Baugh. It lies just outside Virginia City, Nevada in the western United States. It is run humorously as a dictatorial banana-republic with Baugh operating as president. Kevin Baugh continues to pay property taxes on the land although he calls it ‘foreign aid’.