Aerican Empire
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Aerican Empire | |
|---|---|
 Flag
 Coat of arms
| |
| Motto: "Mundi est ridiculum; custodiunt illud quod modo" "The world is ridiculous; let's keep it that way"[a] | |
| Anthem: "Home Is Where I Hang My Towel"[1][2] | |
 | |
 | |
| Status | Current |
| Capital | Earth (Montreal) |
| Official languages | Aerican Language, English(de facto) |
| Religion | No official religions, but Christianity seems to be the most common while Silinism being the most influential. |
| Demonym(s) | Aerican (possibly) |
| Government | parliamentary Constitutional Monarchy |
• Emperor | Eric Lis[3][4] |
| Establishment | |
• Declared | May 8, 1987 |
| Membership | 284(2021)[5] |
| Currency | Mu and Solari[6][7] |
Website www | |
The Aerican Empire (conventionally referred to in short form as Aerica) is a micronation founded in May 1987,[8] which has no sovereign territory of its own and has never been recognized by any other sovereign state as existing. Its name stems from the term "American Empire".[9] In 2000 The New York Times described its website as "one of the more imaginative" micronation sites.[10]
Its members claim sovereignty over a vast disconnected territory, including a square kilometre of land in Australia, a house-sized area in Montreal, Quebec, Canada (containing the "Embassy to Everything Else"), several other areas of the Earth, a colony on Mars, the northern hemisphere of Pluto, a colony on the Sun, and an imaginary planet called "Verden".[11]
Their flag is similar to the flag of Canada, with a yellow smiling face instead of the red maple leaf in the white square (although the red rectangles on the sides have different side length ratios). The national motto of the Aerican Empire is "The world is ridiculous; let’s keep it that way".[12]
History
The Aerican Empire was founded on May 8, 1987 by Canadian-born Eric Lis and a group of his friends. For the first ten years the Empire was almost completely fictional, claiming sovereignty over a vast galaxy of feigned planets and engaging in wars against other micronations (although never resulting in physical contact).[13] After the advent of the Internet, through which the founders discovered other micronations similar to their own, the Empire slowly abandoned most fictional elements and worked towards becoming an existing political entity rather than a hobby. In 1997, the Empire created its own website.[14]
In 2007, Aerica first issued "novelty passports." The first issued passport was exhibited in the Palais de Tokyo 2007 Micronational art exhibition.[15] Aerica issued stamps for the first time in 2015.[16] The Aerican Empire first issued coinage in November 2009, and a second coin was minted to celebrate Aerica's 25th anniversary in 2012.[17] Banknotes were issued for the first time in 2017.[17]
Culture
The Empire's mission statement is: "The Empire exists to facilitate the evolution of a society wherein the Empire itself is no longer necessary."[13][18][19]
The group's activities are permeated by a great deal of humour and a love of science fiction and fantasy, with recurrent references to Star Wars, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and similar works. Annually, the Empire holds story-writing contests, role-playing and wargaming days, and such events as the Dog-Biscuit Appreciation Day Scavenger Hunt.[13] It also developed a disorganized "religion" called Silinism, the worship of the Great Penguin named Forsteri; originally intended as a joke, but which the group claims to have thirty practitioners worldwide.[10]
Aerica has holidays and "niftydays" (such as Saint Bill’s Day, "honoring the ultimate nerd"[20] and Topin Wagglegammon, "the Niftiest Day of the Year"[21]).
In June 2022, the Aerican Empire distributed a census to all citizens together. Of the 201 citizens who responded to the Culling, 104 (52%) completed the census. The census shows that the majority of the Aerican Empire, nearly 70%, speak at least one language other than English, suggesting that the population is multilingual. The bulk of the population identified as some variation of white, causasian, or of European descent, but numerous other ethnicities are represented in the population. About religions, atheists make up about 22% of the population, and agnostics are about twice as common as in most other countries. Of those who identify as religious, most are Christian, but with a wonderful mix.
Like many other micronations, Aerica’s population is male-oriented. About 71.2% of the respondents reporting their gender as male(74 out of 104), compared to 19.2% female (20 out of 104) and 4.81% being non-binary (5 out of 104).
Government and land claims
The Aerican Empire is a constitutional monarchy. The executive and legislative power is held by the Senate. Each colony ruled by the Empire have two Senate seats, so no colonies may have more than two members in the Senate. One Senator shall be elected by the Senate to act as President of the Senate, and an election is called every four years.
The Emperor is the head of state of the Aerican Empire. This position will be held until death, abdication, or impeachment. An Emperor also have the sole power to appoint ministers. The position is not hereditary, however. The Emperor is usually elected among the Senators, but they can be elected from outside the Senate if two thirds (rounded down) plus one of all Senators vote in favour of this. The current Emperor is Dr. Eric Lis. Lis, who founded the Aerican Empire as a child, obtained his M.D., C.M. from McGill University and has been published in the Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience[22] and Weird Tales magazine.[23][24]
The Aerican Empire is divided up into eleven colonies. The capital city of Aerica is area of approximately twenty five feet squared place located in Montreal, which includes the Aerican Embassy to Everything Else. It is the Empire's oldest and historically most populous section. This is not the smallest colony of the Empire, however. Microvia is. With a total area of just under 65 square feet (roughly 6.0386978 square meters), it was annexed due to a recently discovered anomaly in English sovereignty laws.
Chompsville occupies 1 square kilometer of land directly east of and adjacent to Psyche, and Psyche is the second largest Earth-bound colony of the Empire. It’s an area of over 700 hectares (1700 acres) of woodland in Australia. In New Zealand, an island named Retsaot Island in the middle of the lake at the Ashburton Domain is claimed as the imperial territory. The colony includes this island and the lake it sits upon, Lake Supytalp, an area covering approximately 400 square meters. Colonies in outer space include Mars, northern Pluto (Northern Plutopia), and an entirely imaginary planet called ‘Verden’, where no one has ever been to, observed, or discovered, because it does not exist.
At present, no political parties are going on in the Aerican Empire.
Diplomatic relations
Currently, the Empire’s foreign minister Tristan Glark is in charge of the diplomatic relationship with foreign micronations, while Randy Walker is the Minister of Intermicronational Affairs, who deals with joint ventures between Aerica and other states. Aerica isn’t in any leagues, micronational alliances or any other international organisations at this time. However, Aerican Empire has established full diplomatic relations with the following 62 micronations:
Mutual recognition:
Principality of Aigues-Mortes
Free Republic of Alcatraz
Alessia
Anglestonian-Pecunian Commonwealth
Republic of Avineska
Princedom of Aysellant
Bannalia
North Barchant
Principauté de Bérémagne
Tsalojdom of Birgeshir
United Empire of Bluesia
Dominion of British West Florida
Commonwealth of Dracul
Grand Republic of Cycoldia
Socialist Republic of Deerfield
Parliamentary Monarchy of Duckionary
Banana Republic of Egan
República de Estuardo
Principauté de Ferthroy
Metropolitan Electorate of Fidelis
The Empire of Gordjan
Great Chi Empire
Principality of Hashima
Principality of Hélianthis
Impero
Innhau
L'Empire Iroisien
Kingdom of Jupiter and Greater Territories
Jusin Republic
Kingdom of Krystal Cliffs
Empire of Lehmark
Republic of Mania
The Marston Commune
Kingdom of Midgard
New Lacedaemonia
New Rizalia
Nicolessylvania
Nolanaan
Republic of Nordica
Principality of Novum Angliae
Kingdom of Numenor
Octohausen
Republic of Olov
Ossirian Empire
Empire of Pacem
Principality of islet Pontinha
Principality of Posaf
Republic of Rino Island
Grand Duchy of Sililand
République de Sirkali
Sovereign Military Roman Hadrian Order
Strathclyde
The Syurdian Empire
Nation of Terrexa
Empire of Thrace
Principality of Vandewal
Virtuan Republic
Offline activities
While Internet-based activities in the Empire are more well-documented and facilitate interaction between members in different countries, a major focus has always been local physical events. Members gather for weekly meetings in Montreal, Springvale, New York City and other centers, and a twentieth anniversary convention was held in July 2007.[25]
Delegations from the Aerican Empire were in attendance at the Polinations academic conference in London in 2012[26][27] and the MicroCon micronations convention in Atlanta in 2017.[4] Emperor Eric Lis also attended MicroCon 2019, in Hamilton, Ontario.
See also
References
- ↑ Ceceri, K: Micronations: Invent Your Own Country and Culture with 25 Projects, Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "CSS").ISBN 1619302225
- ↑ Aerican Empire: National Anthem
- ↑ Infoman: Infoman, 11 October 2012, "Émission du 11 Octobre"
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Atlanta Magazine: Atlanta Magazine, 30 June 2017, "You probably didn't know, but leaders from 26 micronations just gathered in Atlanta".
- ↑ The Aerican Empire: Culling 2021
- ↑ Aerican Empire: Money
- ↑ Extraradi: Extraradi, 22 September 2009. Barcelona: COMRadio
- ↑ Ryan, J: Micronations: The Lonely Planet Guide to Self-Proclaimed Nations, Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "CSS").ISBN 1-74104-730-7
- ↑ Aerican Empire: FAQ at the group's website, section "What kind of name is Aerica?". Retrieved July 2009.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 The New York Times: "Utopian Rulers, and Spoofs, Stake Out Territory Online", 25 May 2000.
- ↑ The Wanderer: The Wanderer, November 2012, "Micro-nations of our Nation". Archived at [1][permanent dead link] and [2][permanent dead link]
- ↑ "Aerican Empire – De Facto". defactoborders.org. Retrieved 2020-07-06.
- ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 The Montreal Mirror: The Montreal Mirror Archived November 24, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, 17 August 2006, "The little empire that could"
- ↑ O'Driscoll, F: Ils ne siègent pas à l'ONU, Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "CSS").ISBN 2-87867-251-8
- ↑ Aerican Mailing List Archive, [3], December 2, 2006
- ↑ Aerican Empire Post, [4], May 8, 2015
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Aerican Empire: Economics
- ↑ The Boston Phoenix: The Boston Phoenix Archived May 6, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, October 2000, "States of Mind".
- ↑ CBC Daybreak: Daybreak, 13 July 2006, "The Aerican Empire: Interview With Eric Lis". Montreal: CBC Radio
- ↑ Context Magazine: Context Magazine Archived October 17, 2006, at the Wayback Machine, April–May 2001, "Altered States".
- ↑ Aerican Empire: Calendar
- ↑ Journal of Psychiatry and Neuroscience: [5], 2007, "Neuroimaging and genetics of borderline personality disorder: a review".
- ↑ Weird Tales Magazine: Weird Tales, 2008, "My True Lovecraft Gave To Me".
- ↑ Weird Tales Magazine: Weird Tales, 2011, "A Contract Without Loopholes".
- ↑ Aerican Empire: 20th Anniversary Convention
- ↑ Delafontaine, L., Les Micronations, Montreuil-sur-Brêche, Diaphane, 14 September 2013, pages 160, Page Module:Citation/CS1/styles.css must have content model "Sanitized CSS" for TemplateStyles (current model is "CSS").ISBN 978-2-919077-19-9
- ↑ Radio France: 15 July 2012, archived at
Notes
- ↑ Eric said the quote is stolen from the comics Planetary by Warren Ellis.