Q&A for How to Start Your Own Country

The answer depends on what you mean by "legal." Anyone can proclaim a plot of land they legally "own" or land that has no claim to ownership over it as independent in numerous jurisdictions without law enforcement descending upon you. However, the real issue is that in most cases, the country you’re in won’t recognize your micronation, let alone any other countries. And when it comes to not paying taxes, rates, government fees and getting proper licensing, you’re not likely to get very far unless the country your micronation is situated in tolerates this. And even if not paying rates and taxes is temporarily tolerated, back taxes can be devastating when that tolerance is withdrawn.

Micronations are not real countries unless they have been recognized as such under international law. A family, clan, tribe, sect, cult, etc., are not able to constitute a country––there needs to be more to achieve such a status. As outlined under the Montevideo Convention, a real country has: a permanent population, a government, the ability to enter relations with other countries, and is recognized by other states and is free of intervention from any other country. This means basically that if the local law force can enter the micronation’s land, arrest and lock up anyone on the declared micronation for such matters as tax evasion or failure to comply with laws, then the micronation is not a country.

Many countries have land that has been abandoned or forgotten rather than unclaimed, and such land would be subject to squatter or abandoned land laws under that country’s jurisdiction (for example, see How to Claim Land). Of course, any land claimed that way would remain part of that country. As for land left unclaimed in the world as a whole, while there are just a few areas of land left unclaimed, many of these are tricky in terms of making a claim because they’re either subject to varying claims (like Antarctica) or there are countries alongside the unclaimed areas that would be wary of any attempt to lay claim for a new country on those areas. For a list of places still considered "unclaimed" (in varying ways), see the Wikipedia article Terra Nullius (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Terra_nullius).

To be independent, a country needs, among other things, to have a permanent population (which implies a lot of people with varying classes, status, interests, etc., not just a tribe, grouping of families, etc.), to have a government in place and to be recognized by other countries. The biggest hurdle for a micronation seeking to be seen as independent is gaining recognition of its country status; if the country within which it has declared its independent status fails to recognize the micronation as a country, then it’ll have a hard time convincing other countries to see it as independent. Being tolerated by the country within which the micronation has formed is a different matter from being viewed as independent.

Create industries based on the natural resources of your country.

Develop diplomatic relations with other nations to protect you. You can also try raising money to institute a strong military or police force.

Many modern countries include images of influential leaders and important places on their money. You could emulate that tradition or go for something else, like a symbol from your flag or just something that represents the political ideology of your country.

Refrain from using more than three colors, and keep the design as simple as possible. It you are using a 2 or 3 color design, like France or Poland, make sure your color arrangement isn't already being used. Lastly, try to make your flag memorable and different, but not wacky.

Establish a strong army and police system. Set up a secret police to find terrorists and anyone who wants to overthrow the government. Be prepared for natural disasters with funds and an action plan.

It's up to you! It also depends on what kind of government you have: authoritarian, communist, democratic, dictatorship, etc.

Find people who believe In the country you are creating. Ideally like-minded people who would enjoy living in your country under your laws and government without feeling like they are being oppressed. America is popular because (compared to a lot of other countries) we are considered "free."

No, it is not appropriate or beneficial to use another country's flag.

If you referenced Pokemon by name in any way, yes, Nintendo would likely sue you.

You really need to use an existing currency or create your own. It's needed and important for any society. It would be very difficult to have a functioning country without any way of paying for anything.

You could, but you wouldn't be able to buy things from other countries as they would require some form of currency today.

Depends, If you want a small country with a peacekeeping force it could be as little as $250,000 but if you want a standing army for wars, you could see yourself spending more than $10,000,000. Of course, you'd need several billion first to deal with the lawsuits and aerial bombardments that will come your way the moment you start trying to do all of this.

You can start a draft, have a volunteer army, or hire soldiers of fortune (mercenaries).

Theoretically, as soon as you are old enough to understand the abstract concept of creating a sovereign nation. More pragmatically, perhaps once you're old enough to have accumulated the resources necessary to undertake such an endeavor. For the sake of argument, let's say 25. That's generally enough time to have completed the compulsory education for whatever country you currently hail from, earned a basic 4 year higher learning degree/certification, and garnered some experience being a legally recognized adult. Plus you can finally rent a car in the United States, so you've got that going for you.

Yes; however, change it a little bit, so people wouldn't target it as the same anthem.

You could start with the country's name, your capital city's name, details like this. Language is also important. You can either choose English or another language, or make one up yourself!

You can! Female leaders are great, there are many very successful women running countries all over the world.

You probably could buy a poor country if the country happens to be for sale.

You can always pretend, and treat it like a country among yourselves, but it will not be an officially recognized country by the rest of the world.

Yes, but you would have to find unclaimed, existing land on which to build a country for that much money, which could be tricky.

Yes, but some of your citizens may not agree with that whole idea. Most will not enjoy the fact that they may be the lowest rank in the country.

Technically you don't need anyone but yourself, but without a sizable population, it's unlikely that you'll ever be recognized by the international community (or capable of defending your own land). You'd probably want to find at least a few dozen people to help you.

Probably not. It would depend on whether or not the nation you currently live in allows it, even then it would be virtually impossible to maintain that "mirconation" as the government of the nation you reside in could refuse you all resources and assistance. You are also still subject to the laws of your original nation. If you break the law on your own property, you can still be arrested.

Assuming you do not start your nation in an uninhabited area, then you should start with the places that have small, undefended populations and no agreements with large nations to defend them. You can also invade another micro-nation, which would be the cheaper option; they will have already made progress on or completed a lot of infrastructure.

You could, but your population may not want to be moved. It's your choice, though.

Yes, but it may not end well as you would need an army more powerful than the one of the country your overthrowing. Many revolutions have failed throughout history.