Seborga

  • Micronations
  • Founded 1963
  • Prince Marcello I
  • Currency Seborga luigino

The Principality of Seborga is a small community in the North of Italy which has claimed independence since the early 1960s. Seborgian Giorgio Carbone based his claim upon the fact that Seborga was overlooked by the Act of Unification of Italy and earlier medieval administrative mistakes. He convinced the population of Seborga of their rights and they elected him Prince in 1963. Giorgo Carbone died in 2009, he was succeeded by Marcello Menegatto in 2010, who was subsequently re-elected in 2017.

In focus Seborga

Seborga Declares Independence

Seborga, the tiny Italian township perched on a hill near the border with France, has formally declared its independence. The declaration was made by Giorgio Carbone, a local flower grower who was elected prince of Seborga in 1963 by the then 300-odd Seborgans. The local citizenry now numbers 362. ‘We have declared our territorial, civil, moral and religious sovereignty,’ he said - dressed in royal regalia, his chest adorned with the cross of St Bernard’s.

Youtube | 27 Aug 1996

Explore De Facto

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.

Fergana Valley

The Fergana Valley is divided among three republics of the former Soviet Union: eastern Uzbekistan, northern Tajikistan and southern Kyrgyzstan. Various ethnicities used to live side by side in the valley but since the Soviet Union collapsed, new independent republics have been stressing their own national identity rather than respecting the multi-ethnic population that lives in the enclaves. As a result many smaller inter-ethnic disputes in border regions often turn into national border disputes. This makes the Fergana Valley one of the most violent regions in the area.

Principality of Pontinha

The islet of Pontinha and its fort, located in the Madeira Archipelago, were property of the Portuguese state until King Carlos I of Portugal sold the islet in 1903 to the Blandy family of Madeira, he needed money for infrastructure. In 2000, Madeiran art teacher Renato de Barros bought the islet and fort for € 25.000 from the Blandys and declared independence from Portugal, proclaiming himself Prince of Pontinha. In 2017 the micronation granted political asylum to the erratic Portuguese politician José Manuel Coelho, who had a pending prison sentence and is currently back in jail. At the moment, there are four citizens on the island: the prince, his wife, his son and his daughter.