micronation

Any entity which has the appearance of being a sovereign state but isn't. Micronations are usually created and maintained by one person or family. Many exist solely on the internet, or in the imagination of their creators. Some have a more corporeal existence, occupying a defined - albeit often tiny - geographical areas, and producing arefacts such as stamps, coins, banknotes, passports, medals and flags. Micronations are generally viewed as eccentric and vaguely amusing by most external observers. Micronations should not to be confused with microstates, which are small legitimate sovereign states such as the Vatican, Monaco, Andorra or San Marino. Nor should they be confused with legitimate self-determination or secessionist groups, who are typically have many hundreds or thousands of active supporters.