Name: The People Who Rule the World's Smallest Countries (HBO)
Uploaded: 2018-11-08T03:01:45.000Z
Duration: 5 min 8 s
Description: Thousands of YouTube videos with English-Chinese subtitles! Now you can learn to understand native speakers, expand your vocabulary, and improve your pronunciation...

current ruler of Slabovia
and one of the founding members.

I am the unquestioned tyrannical dictator
of the Aerican Empire.

— If you don't remember any of these countries
from geography class,

self-declared sovereign states not formally
recognized by the countries in which they reside.

representatives from 27 micronations
gathered for a summit in Dunwoody, Georgia.

— Our governing philosophy is absolute monarchy

And I have over 200 citizens who tend to agree with it.

I don't think it makes us exactly a cult, but…

are more of a political statement than an ideology.

We don't care for the way things
are going in the countries we come from

even if it's just over
a postage stamp-sized piece of property.

— Micronations came to prominence in the 1960s,

when two manmade islands
declared their independence—

the Republic of Rose Island,
off the coast of Italy,

The Italian government did not
take kindly to Rose Island

and, in 1968, they sent forces
who demolished it with explosives.

surviving a hostage situation and legal troubles

ranging from passport fraud to money laundering.

Other micronations were founded
with a wide variety of goals,

including establishing a libertarian utopia,

Many of these had less than ideal outcomes,

however, the majority went
unnoticed by society until the '90s,

when previously isolated micronationalists
realized they weren't alone.

— I wasn't even aware that there were
other micronations out there

You know, you get out there
and start looking around, like,

“Whoa, that guy's got his own country declared,”

— Your majesties, your highnesses,
your excellencies, ladies and gentlemen…

— We now consider ourselves
to be a classical republic…

— Ruritania has had a long tradition
against the vile vermin of squirrels…

— Most of my citizens never even meet me.

They send in the application, I approve it.

We also get a lot of people trying
desperately to leave third-world countries.

They think that we're a country with
enough land that they could move here.

— They are absolutely no potential benefits
to being a member of the Aerican Empire.

It is purely something that
someone can be happy about.

Naturally, we do sell bank notes, and coins, and
printable passports, and citizenship certificates,

but really it's not a question of tangible benefit,

that's really one of
the most powerful things in the world.

— Our land claim is actually
only the size of a small rock.

— Many micronationalists are not isolationist.

They also want to shape the world around them
nd question what makes a state legitimate.

even small acts of rebellion
help challenge bureaucracies

and give them control over their own lives.

— Some people describe it as role playing.

— In special recognition of your services,

My husband was an invalid for a number of years.

He came up with laws and rules that we still use.

we got about 100 condolence letters
from other micronations.

Suddenly, I didn't know what to do with myself.

I'm being what other people want me to be.