micronation
Part of speech: noun
Morphological type: derivation
Etymology: From micro- (“very small”) + nation (“a sovereign state; country”). Compare microcountry, mini-nation, mini-country and ministate.
The first sense was coined on 11 March 1973 by the editors of the Lansing State Journal (see quotations) in a republication of an article by Philip J. Hilts, originally writing for Potomac Magazine (Sunday supplement to The Washington Post), and so-called because most micronations are small in size. The article was referring to the unrecognised political entities listed in the Ephemeral States file, a collection of physical micronational records maintained by the Office of the Geographer of the United States Department of State, launched in 1933.
Base: nation
Affixes: micro-
Inflected forms:
form: micronations
pos: noun
tags: plural
form: micro-nation
pos: noun
tags: alternative
Senses:
gloss: A non-autonomous entity that claims to be a sovereign state and mimics the actions of a state (with varying degrees of seriousness), but lacks any legal recognition and exists only on paper or in the mind of its creator; a micronational entity.
pos: noun
examples: For every dreamer there is somewhere a doer, and in the realm [of] the strange micro-nations, the Republic of Minerva has plunged a bit ahead of the nebulous status of most others.
Oceanus ... This is the world's largest micronation, taking up all the seas of the world beyond national 3-mi. limits.
The list of micro-nations is long and colorful. The spirit of new nation-building that resonates from King Robert's descriptions of these countries, is seductive.
Even if you are very well traveled, you may not yet have visited any of the world's micronations. There are places all over where someone or some group has declared a sort of mock sovereignty. Real nations mostly ignore them, and so does everyone else usually.
[Never heard of] the Imperial Kingdom of Calsahara? The Conch Republic? The Principality of Sealand? You’re not alone. Léo Delafontaine hadn’t either until 2012, when he visited the Republic of Saugeais, a self-proclaimed micronation in eastern France. He's since become fascinated with "countries" unrecognized by world governments and organizations. […] Some micronations are easily accessible while others are difficult to get to.
After exploring several classificatory accounts that identify commonalities and distinctions among and between different types of micronation, we outline our definition. We find that micronations are self-declared nations that perform and mimic acts of sovereignty, and adopt many of the protocols of nations, but lack a foundation in domestic and international law for their existence and are not recognised as states in domestic or international forums.
gloss: Synonym of microstate (“a country that has a very small population and land area”).
pos: noun
examples: Also, since Nigeria is the cornerstone of the economy of West Africa, many countries around its perimeter will suffer, including many of the "micro-nations" of the U.N. which were the biggest supporters of the actions in The Congo and Rhodesia.
The concept of an independent Bougainville is sometimes denounced because such a micronation would necessarily restrict the scope of employment opportunities while increasing the frustrations of educated Bougainvilleans.
Europe already has workable arrangements with micro-nations like Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Andorra and San Marino.
But in easing its own vaccine crisis, this hilltop micronation – which is not a member of the European Union – has become a foil for a much larger crisis playing out beyond its borders.
Synonyms: MN
ephemeral state
micronational entity
model country
new country project
project nation
countercountry
model nation
micropatria
microcountry
mini-country
mini-nation
mnation
mrnation
nationette
new nation project
Antonyms: macronation
country
nation
sovereign state
Related words: micropatriology
cybernation
network state
ronation
Derived words: micronationality
micronationdom
micronationhood
micronationry
Translations: