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?

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.

Exactly 45 years ago, the Kalakuta Republic burned to the ground. The secessionist state within Nigeria provided political asylum for musicians, friends and family of afro-pop musician and activist Fela Kuti.

Early in January 1949 James Thomas Mangan claimed a new nation that was formed by ‘all of outer space’. According to Mangan, no other country should have political hegemony in space and he protested actively against improper use of his territory, asking to ban nuclear tests and space flights. Mangan was praised and ridiculed during his lifetime.

In 2000, Madeiran art teacher Renato de Barros bought this small tip of land, an island and fort in the Funchal harbor of Madeira and he declared independence from Portugal, proclaiming himself Prince of Pontinha. ‘Pontinha means “a point”. All change in the world begins with something very small, and this is my country—just a little point.‘ Check out this new place of the week.

Exactly twenty years ago, one of the world’s largest micronations was founded: the Grand Duchy of Westarctica. In 2001 Travis McHenry found out that ‘no formal claims have been made in the sector between 90 degrees west and 150 degrees west’, which inspired him to claim this specific part of land.

French adventurer Antoine de Tounens created this vassal kingdom of France in Patagonia in 1860 but was declared insane and got sent back to France. The Kingdom of Araucanía and Patagonia is the last remnant to create autonomy for the Mapuche people, the indigenous inhabitants of south-central Chile and southwestern Argentina.

On 9/11 the focus turns to Guantanamo Bay, the oldest US overseas naval base. It was leased from Cuba in 1903, despite continuous protests of the Cuban government. Since 2002 it was used to detain prisoners from the War on terror, over 750 detainees were being held there. The camp has been criticized widely by human rights organizations: prisoners are being kept indefinitely without trial and several detainees having been allegedly tortured. Today, 39 prisoners remain.

Exactly thirthy-one years ago, Transnistria declared independence from Moldova. This week it wrote history, entering the Champions League with its football club FC Sheriff Tiraspol. Welcome to the country that officially still does not exist.

The Conch Republic was born on April 23, 1982, in response to a US Border Patrol blockade of the Florida Keys. Since the US insisted on treating the Keys like a foreign country, Mayor Dennis Wardlow decided to secede. Today the community stands proudly as one with a “sovereign state of mind”.

The Republic of Parva Domus Magna Quies is located in Uruguay. Founded in 1878, the organization occupied an extensive hacienda in the outskirts of Montevideo, of which today only the main mansion remains. ‘According to them, with the exception of Parva Domus, the rest of the world is mad as hell.’

Kalakuta Republic was a secessionist state within Nigeria that provided political asylum for musicians, friends and the extended family of popular afro-pop musician and activist Fela Kuti. Kuti founded his republic as a protest to the dictatorial regime. Forty-four years ago, the Kalakuta Republic was burned to the ground by government soldiers.

San Escobar is a non-existent country and emerged out of a blunder by the former Polish minister of foreign affairs, Witold Waszczykowski. The minister told reporters he had met with officials from various countries, including meeting some Caribbean nations ‘perhaps for the first time in the history of our diplomacy. For example with countries such as San Escobar or Belize’.

The Glacier Republic was founded by Greenpeace in the hope to protect Chilean glaciers from mining activities. Apart from rising temperatures, the mining explosions and pollution take a great toll on this environment. Greenpeace stated that once Chile passes legislation that will protect its glaciers, the republic will cease to exist. However, after seven years this micronation is still on the map.

Happy New Year! Early in January 1949 James Thomas Mangan posted a formal request to all the countries in the world to recognize his recently registered Nation of Celestial Space. This new nation was formed by ‘all of outer space’, because no other country should have political hegemony in space.

After the release of L’Isola delle Rose by Netflix, the extraordinary but largely untold story of the ‘prince of anarchists’ Giorgio Rose became popular immediately. The Italian engineer built his own island in the Adriatic sea in the 1960s, which housed a restaurant, bar, souvenir shop and even a post office.

In 2014, the International Court of Justice in The Hague ended the maritime conflict between Chile and Peru. In a Solomonic way, they divided the disputed sea between the two countries. However, the Court’s ruling left one point unresolved: the Terrestrial Triangle.

The Free Republic of Hakkelaarsbrug, a hamlet in the Netherlands, declared the independence in 2017. The micronation has a passport, banknotes, postage stamps, its own flag and a national anthem. It also has its own White House where meetings are held. However, there are no political parties—in fact, politics are banned completely.

In 2004 a group of gay activists sailed on board of the Gayflower to the Coral Islands, a group of uninhabited islets east of the Great Barrier Reef, to protest against the refusal of the Australian government to recognize same sex marriage. The islands of the Coral Sea were claimed as homeland for the gay and lesbian people of the world and a campsite called Heaven was erected on Cato Island. ‘I Am What I Am’ became the national Anthem.

On June 3 the Kingdom of Sedang was created by former French government official Charles-Marie David de Mayréna. Mayréna was involved in dubious affairs and owned a plantation in French Indo-China. He managed to convince the local tribesmen to form a small kingdom under his rule and the Kingdom published various stamps, had a flag and a coat of arms but perished when Mayréna died under mysterious circumstances in 1890.

Meet one of the most densely populated islands in the world. It covers less than 2,000 square meters and has 500 inhabitants. Bars, a supermarket and a tiny port are part of this mini society which is claimed by Kenya and Uganda.

The Aerican Empire was created on May 8 in 1987 by the five-year-old Eric Lis. The first ten years it was entirely fictive but it became more serious when a website was launched in 1997. Now everyone can sign up to become a citizen and chose which area of the empire they want to reside in. These non-contiguous pieces of land reach as far the northern hemisphere of Pluto. Silliness is never far away.

Meet Puerto Rico. The island in the Caribbean Sea became a US territory following the Spanish-American War in 1898. After hurricane Maria in 2017 it found itself with a collapsing economy and destroyed infrastructure, and a crisis of sovereignty. Read more about the independence struggles of this divided island.

The Black Hills are home to the largest dispute between the US government and Native Americans. Read why the Sioux Nation says no to $1.3 billion.

On 17 February, Kosovo celebrates the twelfth anniversary of its independence. Many citizens cherish new hopes for the future now Albin Kurti of Vetevendosje (Self-determination) recently has been elected as their new Prime Minister.

Where the Canada-US border falls into the ocean, one final territorial dispute exists. Machias Seal Island is a 1-hectare landmass permanently inhabited by over 5,000 mating pairs of puffins and two Canadian lighthouse keepers.

Since California achieved statehood in 1850, there have been over 200 attempts to break it up. On November 27th in 1941, armed men roadblocked the borders and informed all vehicles about the new territory they were entering: the State of Jefferson.

Forty-eight years ago today, millionaire Michael J. Oliver declared the independence of the Republic of Minerva, hoping that the small island reclaimed from the sea would ‘one day attract a population of thirty thousand’.

These days, Baarle Hertog is highly popular among the Dutch. While they are only allowed to buy fireworks from the 28th of December in their own country, in Belgium they can buy crackers all year round. As a result, the small border town is plagued with long cues and traffic jams—but for the local businesses, it is heyday.

Zooks! Already 40 years ago this micronation was launched. Covering no less then eight provinces and a piece of Antarctica.