Really.
From the “micro-nation”’s official website:
Our nearest neighbour, the United Kingdom, noted our country with some disdain and much indifference […]. As time moved on, our Principality became more firmly entrenched; an attempt by the UK to occupy our country fell to the UK Courts to be quashed, and finally our permanent presence was accepted. Following this quiet but important step, we were able to carry our own letters to a port of entry to the international postal system, and we began the work of making a country have an identity of its own. Our flag, our passports, our citizens, our own way of life became the accepted norm in the countries about us.
Oh, and the Dalai Lama holds a barony there, natch, though it’s possible that no one has told him.
During World War II, the British government built a fort in the North Sea — a permanent antiaircraft structure meant to defend against Nazi attack. Eleven years after the war ended, the base was abandoned, and over the next several decades a UK citizen named Roy Bates sailed over to the fort, “colonized” it, wrote up a constitution and declared the concrete platform the independent nation of Sealand.
The “nation” has existed in a legal gray area since the British courts rejected UK jurisdiction over the fort because of its placement in international waters in 1968. Ten years later, Sealand’s claim to nationhood was further bolstered by a dramatic international incident:
From Wikipedia:
[…] while Bates was away, the Prime Minister of Sealand, Professor Alexander G. Achenbach, and several German and Dutch citizens, staged a forcible takeover of Roughs Tower, holding Bates’ son Michael captive, before releasing him several days later in the Netherlands. Bates thereupon enlisted armed assistance and, in a helicopter assault, retook the fortress. He then held the invaders captive, claiming them as prisoners of war. Most participants in the invasion were repatriated at the cessation of the “war”, but Achenbach, a German lawyer who held a Sealand passport, was charged with treason against Sealand, and was held unless he paid DM 75,000 (more than US$ 35,000). The governments of the Netherlands and Germany petitioned the British government for his release, but the United Kingdom disavowed all responsibility, citing the 1968 court decision. Germany then sent a diplomat from its London embassy to Roughs Tower to negotiate for Achenbach’s release. Roy Bates relented after several weeks of negotiations and subsequently claimed that the diplomat’s visit constituted de facto recognition of Sealand by Germany.
I thought that was pretty funny, until I realized that having an independent quasi-nation comes with a lot of perks. Aside from being able to officially name yourself “Prince Roy of Sealand,” you can also make a heck of a lot of money. In 2000, Wired reported on Sealand’s scheme to offer lightning-fast, unregulated Internet service for mainland Europe — “an offshore, fat-pipe data haven that answers to nobody.” According to the article:
“HavenCo will provide its clients with nearly a gigabit per second of Internet bandwidth by year’s end, at prices far cheaper than those on the overregulated dry land of Europe - whose financial capitals sit a mere 20 milliseconds away from Sealand’s electronic nerve center. Three speedy connections to HavenCo affiliate hubs all over the planet - microwave, satellite, and underwater fiber-optic links - will ensure that the data never stops flowing.”
Seven years later, the aptly named Havenco seems to still be up and running, though its website doesn’t say a whole lot.
On a related note, Sealand is for sale — or rather, since a sovereign territory cannot technically be sold, the Bates family is looking to transfer its “custodianship.” If you’re in the market for a country, Sealand can be yours for a paltry $1.2 billion. If you’re feeling a little light in the wallet, you can become a lord or lady of Sealand for £19.99, or just join their Facebook page for free.
If you’re curious and itching to know more, check out Sealand’s official information brochure, which contains government org charts, GDP info, demographics and more.
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