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Whatsapp George II, Emperor of Atlantium

For your next holiday, why not consider a trip to Atlantium? It's small, run by a benevolent leader and is only a few hundred kilometres down the coast from Sydney. RN Drive investigates the growing, but not-too-serious world of micronations.



E tenebris lux (A Light in the Darkness) Imperial State Signum of the Empire of Atlantium

For an emperor, George II is warm and affable in conversation.

Not taking yourself seriously is a really good start.

Speaking down the phone from his empire, it is clear his is not the voice of a tyrannical zealot bent on overthrowing the international order.

Instead, this is a man who at 15, along with his two cousins, marked out a border on the corner of his mother's backyard south of Sydney and developed the micronation of Atlantium.

That empire has grown in subsequent decades, and as Atlantium's website proudly declares, now 'unilaterally asserts extraterritorial authority over a 0.76 square kilometre enclave' in New South Wales' Lachlan Valley.

'It's twice the size of the Vatican and half the size of Monaco,' boasts Emperor George II, otherwise known as George Cruickshank.

'We actually have monuments there. We have the only pyramid in Australia; four metres high at the top of a hill.'

Atlantium is one of many micronations around the world, each with its own history, but all sharing a common bond: none of them are recognised by world governments or major international organisations.

'Since 1820, there have been something like 300 micronations of substance that have existed in the world, and not a single one has ever become a sovereign state,' says Cruickshank.

That hasn't damped the determination and enthusiasm of their emperors and rulers though.

In April, 'the denizens of the micronational world' gathered in their various official garbs for MicroCon 2015, just down the road from Disneyland, in the salubrious surrounds of the Anaheim Central Library.

Cruickshank has a problem with a few of them; particularly the libertarians in the bunch.

He describes the world's most recently-formed micronation, Liberland, between between Croatia and Serbia, as 'the latest in a long and tiresome history of failed libertarian micronations'.

'This is the problem with libertarian micronations: they actually think that by setting up this entity, by finding ways to get around existing laws that they think nobody has ever thought of before, that they can somehow become part of the global community of nations and become a sovereign state.'

What makes a good micronation then?

'Not taking yourself seriously is a really good start,' he says.

His own website might claim that 'there's nothing funny about Atlantium', but these are the sort of contradictions emperors are afforded.

While people from around the world have registered as citizens of Atlantium, they won't be receiving passports anytime soon.

'We promote a number of broadly progressive goals, and one of the ones we're very strong about is unrestricted international freedom of movement,' he says.

'So passports are right out in Atlantium! We don't believe in them.'

A number of high-profile government positions are currently open within the ministries of Atlantium, including minister of justice and director of nobiliary affairs. Apply within.

The secret world of micronations Listen to the full episode of RN Drive to hear more from George Crucikshank, Emperor of Atlantium.

RN Drive takes you behind the day’s headlines, with an engaging mix of current affairs, analysis, arts and culture from across Australia and around the world.