micronation

Etymology
Surface analysis:, meaning "small country."

Micropatriologist Zabëlle Skye hypotheses that micronation was first used, "albeit uncommonly," to refer to unrecognised breakaway states in Africa, first appearing in 1964 or 1967. Skye, as well as several other micropatriologists such as Cesidio Tallini, agree that the earliest documented use of micronation in its modern context came in 1978 in The People's Almanac #2 by David Wallechinsky and Irving Wallace.

According to Skye, micronation was first used, "albeit uncommonly," to refer to unrecognised breakaway states in Sub-Saharan Africa that appeared during the decolonisation of Africa between the mid-1960s and 1975. Skye states that the earliest documented use of micronation to refer to an unrecognised nation-state was in a translation by the United States Joint Publications Research Service of a 1967 Russian-language work by V. I. Iordanskiy in which he used the term micronationalism in regard to the State of Katanga, an erstwhile breakaway state from the from the Belgian Congo. Skye also states that the first use of micronation to refer to a country was by President of Senegal Léopold Sédar Senghor in the first issue of his French-language Liberté in 1964, in which he calls Senegal a micronation despite it having been granted independence from France four years prior.

Additionally, Skye further hypotheses that micropatriology—the study of micronations—which was coined by at least 1977, could have influenced micronation based on the appearance of the prefix micro- in both.

Pronunciation

 * IPA: /ˈmaɪ.kɹoʊ.neɪ̯.ʃən/
 * Hyphenation: mai*krow*nay*shn
 * Hyphenation: mik*row*nay*shn (uncommon; chiefly US)

Noun

 * 1) A self-proclaimed sovereign state without international recognition that is treated differently to a state with limited recognition; a category of aspirant state that is not regarded as a disputed state, quasi-state or proto-state—often small enough in size to be ignored by its macronation.
 * 2) (obsolete, 1960s–1980s) A breakaway state or secessionist movement in subsaharan Africa.

Usage notes
In simulationism, micronations do not have to formally claim sovereignty. Furthermore, in classical micropatriology—the most accepted paradigm of micronationalism in the MicroWiki sector, Facebook sector and Reddit sector—micronations are ranked on a two-dimensional scale of secessionism and simulationism (not seeking independence).

Alternative spellings

 * Micronation
 * MicroNation (misspelling)
 * micro nation (misspelling)

Antonyms

 * macronation

Synonyms

 * project nation
 * model country
 * new country project
 * network state
 * microcountry (translation of micronation in some languages)

Derived terms

 * animal micronation
 * bedroom nation
 * bug nation (derogatory)
 * community micronation
 * cultural micronation
 * cybernation
 * Discord nation
 * fake micronation
 * historical micronation
 * indigenous nation
 * Micras nation
 * fantasy micronation
 * MicroWiki nation
 * nanonation
 * piconation
 * non-territorial micronation
 * cyber micronation
 * extraterrestrial micronation
 * space nation
 * virtual micronation
 * one man nation
 * egonation (derogatory)
 * seasteading micronation
 * territorial micronation
 * toy micronation
 * plush toy micronation

Translations
For translations of new country project, see new country project.
 * Afrikaans: mikronasie
 * Arabic: الدولة المصغرة ;دولة مجهرية (microstate)
 * Aragonese: micronación
 * Azerbaijani: mikrodövlət; virtual dövlət (virtual state)
 * Basque: mikronazio
 * Belarusian: віртуальныя дзяржавы (virtual state)
 * Catalan: micronació
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin: 微国家 (microstate)
 * Wu Chinese: 私人国家 (private state)
 * Yue Chinese (Cantonese): 蚊型國家
 * Croatian: mikronacija
 * Czech: mikronárod
 * Danish: mikronation
 * Dutch: micronatie
 * Esperanto: mikronacio
 * Estonian: mikroriik
 * Filipino: mikronasyon
 * Finnish: mikrovaltio
 * French: micronation; cryptarchie
 * Gaelic (Irish): micreanáisiúin
 * Galician: micronación
 * German: Mikronation
 * Greek: μικροέθνος
 * Hebrew: מדינה לכאורה
 * Hindi: सूक्ष्मराष्ट्र
 * Hungarian: mikronáció; mikronemzetek
 * Icelandic: smáþjóð
 * Indonesian: negara mikro (microstate); mikronasi
 * Interlingua: micronation
 * Italian: micronazione
 * Japanese: ミクロネーション
 * Korean: 마이크로네이션
 * Latvian: mikronācija
 * Lithuanian: mikronacija; netikra valstybė (fake state)
 * Macedonian: микронација; микродржава (microstate); виртуелна држава (virtual state); замислена држава (imaginary state)
 * Marathi: सूक्ष्मराष्ट्र
 * Norwegian: mikronasjon
 * Occitan: micronacion
 * Persian (Farsi): ریزکشور
 * Polish: mikronacja
 * Portuguese: micronação; micropaís (microcountry)
 * Romanian (Moldovan): micronațiune
 * Scots: micronaition; weekintra
 * Slovak: mikronárod
 * Slovenian: mikronarod
 * Spanish: micronación
 * Tamil: நுண் நாடு
 * Thai: ประเทศจำลอง
 * Turkish: mikro ulus; mikronasyon
 * Ukrainian: мікрона́ція
 * Urdu: خرد اقوام
 * Uzbek:
 * Latin: virtual davlat (virtual state)
 * Cyrillic: виртуал давлат (virtual state)
 * Venetian: micronasion
 * Welsh: microgenedl
 * Yakut: микро ил

Verification needed

 * Faroese: smátjóð (direct translation)
 * Vietnamese: vi quốc gia
 * Zaza: mikroşar

Request translations
If you speak one of these languages or have a reliable source for a translation, please add it.
 * Russian
 * Swedish
 * Xhosa
 * Zulu