Does there exist anywhere on Earth land which is not owned either by individuals or a government? In other words, if I felt like homesteading a penguin ranch on the South Pole or a cocoanut farm deep in the Congo, could I do it without technically squatting on someone else’s property? Surely there must exist a bit of free land for the taking someone on this orb. Siberia, maybe? Nova Zembla?
I believe every part of the Earth’s land surface is spoken for. Either by government sovereignty claims to obscure places like Rockall (a bit of stone in the north atlantic, claimed by England), or by treaty terms which abrogate all territorial claims by government or individuals (as in Antarctica). I’m not sure what shape the ice shelf or glaciers are in for homesteading purposes, and there might be a few seamounts that aren’t spoken for, though.
Your best bet might be to be alert for volcanic eruptions undersea, and be the first one there when the magma cools above the waterline.
Someone might say they have a claim to parts of Antarctica, but the UN doesn’t recognize it, nor does the U.S. government. The Antarctic Treaty prohibits anyone from making a claim on the continent. However, a bunch of countries do.
There also large sections of the oceans which don’t fall under anyone’s jurisdiction.
You might want to take the route of the guy who built his own island.
(Dang! No cite found! AAARRRGGHHH!!)
http://www.privateislandsonline.com/article2.htm
true? false? who knows, but it’s a good story.
The last independent nation to arise was Sealand ( http://www.sealandgov.com/ ), and since then nobody has been able to find a single piece of unclaimed land or sea to form a new nation on. Actually, I understand that Sealand may once have technically been British territory, but they’re not putting up much of a fight because they’ve lost some court decisions.
Sealand boasts the only (AFAIK) data haven that you can store just about any kind of data on. It’s a company called HavenCo. I won’t publish the URL here for fear of draconian mods, but I will say that if you can’t figure out the website from the name of the company, then you should probably turn off your WebTV and go lie down for a while…
-Ben
So what is the legal status of Sealand? It seems like it could be claimed by at least one ‘real’ nation. Does the 1968 British decision prevent anyone else from claiming Roughs Tower (the name of the island Sealand squats on)? Could the UK reverse its decision and send in the SAS?
Can a de facto nation exist on land that the legal possessor doesn’t care enough about, or can’t afford to care about enough, to defend? I suppose it’s more a matter of recognition, but could the de facto nation enter into a group such as NATO?
ModernRonin2, you answered some of my first questions. Could the UK reverse its 1968 decision?
that “sealand” place seems bogus. it says on the front page that more than 200,000,000 people live there. i suppose they stack them in big ol’ piles of citizenry.
you see, the current US population is only about 285,635,000 people, according to the United States Census Bureau.
Actually, it says that 200,000,000 people live “within a radius of five hundred miles” of Sealand. Check the map here. Though it may still be fictitional - certainly doesn’t appear on any map I’ve ever owned.
When it comes to international law and nations, the only hard and fast rule is “might makes right” and “posession is 9/10ths of the law.” Sad, but there you have it.
Could the UK reverse the 1968 decision? Absolutely it could. And they has more than enough of a regular army and helicopters to re-take an small aircraft refuelling platform, in spite of Sealand’s army/police force that lives on the “island.”
But WILL they? At the moment it seems unlikely. In the future? Who the hell knows. Must be interesting to be the king of Sealand. Sword of Damocoles, eh?
Lastly, I’m not going to try and convince otherwise anyone who thinks Sealand is a scam. But I will tell you to keep digging for info until you’re satsified one way or another.
-Ben
Here’s a somewhat related SD column that makes a passing reference to Sealand.
Just wanted to mention that the Great One has spoken on this topic:
ah! ok… so, the statement is technically correct, but it’s also a searing storm of bullcrap. thanks.
So if one was out in international waters and an island happened to spring up, say the abandoned ruins of R’lyeh or the sea floor just happened to make a big push upwards and the new land mass was entirely within international waters whomever could get there and defend that land they could claim it as their own? Would they have to deal with the UN since it’s international waters?
wow, this is not as complicated as everyone makes it out.
a true nation state just means you have to be recognized.
if you are a member of UN as a separate nation state, then you are a true independent country. if you are not a member of UN, then you are basically on a bilateral basis. What I mean is that as long as the country you deal with recognize you as a country, you are a country.
It is all about recognition.
This population, gov’t, etc stuff is all bs.
Cuz I know a few places where people declare independence and no one recognize them, so they are not countries even tho the parent country has no control over them. I guess they never bothered to send in the troops as of yet.
You will find these countries in China, Philipines, Indonesia, and Africa.
I don’t have time to find links. But basically, these are insurgent groups/rebels. Most are muslim for some strange reason. There a few that are just made up of indigenous people.
Is anyone current on ‘squatter’s rights’?
IIRC, under English Comman Law, a person ‘openly and notoriously’ using the land of another for a period of seven years, without objection by the legal owner, may petition for title of the land.
Wasn’t there such a case in or around MA within living memory?
Actually, if you’re there and are able to defend it, your new country could be as well your backyard, the rocky mountains or half of the US, for that matter…There are no international law defining how a country can be created. And the UN has no say in this. It can only admit your country as a member or refuse to do so. And in the latter case, it doesn’t mean your track of land isn’t a country.
clairobscur got it - if you can defend the land you can declare it a country. Defend doesn’t just mean by force (but it is the ultimate option) you could due it through the courts like the Prince of Sealand has done.