Micropatrology

Published June 10, 2010

Micropatrology or the study of small countries is quite peripheral to the subject of Atlantis, but it is a curious fact that a number of the attempts to establish new independent states have their titles inspired by the name of Plato’s lost island. They include Atland, Atlantis, and the Principality of Atlantis & Lemuria. There was even an attempt by Leicester Hemingway, the younger brother of the famous author, to have New Atlantis established and recognised internationally⁽^a⁾. Its ‘territory’ just consisted of a thirty-foot barge off the coast of Jamaica and had as its primary objective the generation of revenue through the issuing of postage stamps.

The Madeira archipelago (a minor Atlantis candidate) in the Atlantic includes the tiny independent Principality of Pontinha^(e), which today has bitcoin as its official currency!

Arguably one of the most attractive micronations is the Republic of Uzupis, which occupies less than one sq.km of Vilnius the capital of Lithuania^(f). The Republic of Le Saugeais, sandwiched between France and Switzerland is also popular with tourists^(g)

In East Germany, we have “Königreich Deutschland” (Kingdom of Germany) ruled by Peter the First (Peter Fitzek)^(j).

Coins have been issued in the name of a non-existent ‘Kingdom of Atlantis’, by the World Proof Numismatic Association^(h), which is a one-man show owned by Edward J. Moschetti.

One of the more ambitious creations is the Empire of Atlantium⁽^b^)(c), established in 1981 by three Australians when they declared their independence from the Commonwealth of Australia and proclaimed George Francis Cruickshank as its ruler with the title of His Imperial Majesty George II. Understandably, I worry about the fate of George I! Australia has a number of other micronations as recently reported by the BBC^(d).

Places That Don’t Belong is a fascinating “BBC Travel series that delves into the playful side of geography, taking you through the history and identity of geo-political anomalies and places along the way”⁽ⁱ⁾.

There are currently (March 2023) five micronations within the United States(k), none of which claim any association with Atlantis^(k).

>>I was not really surprised that one of the more recent claims related to Antarctica, where Grand Duke Travis rules over Westarctica⁽^l⁾.<<

This strange subject is discussed in a book by Erwin S. Strauss ^[⁴⁸²^] and additional information can be obtained from the International Micropatrological Society, 4554 McPherson Ave., Saint Louis, Missouri, 63108.

⁽^a⁾ https://blog.hrc.utexas.edu/2015/07/30/throwback-thursday-contents-of-a-country-leicester-hemingways-republic-of-new-atlantis/

^(b)See: https://web.archive.org/web/20191123080317/https://www.atlantium.org/

^(c) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_Atlantium

^(d) https://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-38964465

^(e) See: https://web.archive.org/web/20170905084632/https://principality-pontinha.com/index.html

^(f) https://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20181014-uupis-a-tiny-republic-of-free-spirits

^(g) https://www.bbc.com/travel/story/20200311-a-tiny-country-between-france-and-switzerland

^(h) Kingdom of Atlantis Coin, Ruler and brief History (archive.org)

⁽ⁱ⁾ Places That Don’t Belong – BBC Travel

^(j) The self-proclaimed kingdom that doesn’t recognise Germany – BBC News

^(k) The kingdom in my backyard: 5 micronations within the United States (msn.com)

^(l) Westarctica: The micronation with a real-world purpose – Big Think *