Nanonation

Nateland was a nanonation which declared independence from the Timonoucite Empire between April–May 2021; claimed area pictured

A nanonation is a micronation which has declared independence from its parent micronation which does not recognise the seceding micronation's claim to statehood. In other words, a nanonation is to a micronation what a micronation is to a macronation. Other definitions extend the term to include any micronation located within another micronation. Just like micronations, nanonations vary in scope, seriousness and purpose, although many are disestablished after a short period and merge into their parent micronation. As a word, nanonation was coined on 27 January 2006 by non-micronationalists in jocular yet dismissive statements regarding micronationalism. It was first used by a micronationalist on 1 March 2015, but was referring to size rather than intermicronational secession; nanonation—in its current meaning—was first coined by a micronatinalist on 19 October 2016. It entered general micronational parlance in early 2020. A nanonation within a nanonation is sometimes called a piconation, but this term is used more humorously than it is earnestly.

Etymology

Nanonation is a combination of nano- (a unit prefix meaning one billionth) and micronation; micro-, alongside meaning "small," is the unit prefix for one millionth—one unit above nano-. First attested in January 2006, nanonation was originally used by non-micronationalists in jocular yet dismissive statements regarding micronations, especially on Wikipedia.

The earliest attested use of the word nanonation in a micronational context—although with an unclear meaning—was during a discussion on Wikipedia regarding the deletion of an article about a micronation, in which the user Quarl simply stated on 27 January 2006: "Delete, nanonation." It later appeared on 19 December 2010 in an Internet forum for the space flight simulator program Orbiter. In response to a jocular post stating that a micronation be created and based on Orbiter, the user Urwumpe joked:

How about a Nanonation [sic], which is just one person, who can't agree with himself?

— Urwumpe, 19 December 2010

Nanonation was first used by a micronationalist on 1 March 2015, but it was referring to size rather than intermicronational secession. Steven Harris, posting to the Micronations and Alternative Polities Facebook group, asked if there was a minimum criteria necessary to "qualify as a micronation", pondering if being too small in territorial size would constitute a nanonation, or even a piconation.

In its current meaning, nanonation was coined on 19 October 2016 by micronationalist Max I of the Kingdom of Jupiter, posting to the MicroWiki forums. However, the term did not immediately experience widespread usage.

I am slightly annoyed with my mirconation [sic] right now. I also want to try different things but stay with Jupiter. So is it possible to have a micronation inside a micronation, a nanonation of sorts?".

— Max I of the Kingdom of Jupiter, 19 October 2016

Spread

Two journalistic posts about the nanonation of Wurtzemburg on the social media application Amino, July 2018

Nanonation was used next on 3 July 2018 in the Amino app by Aaron Penyami to describe the Republic of Wurtzemburg, which had declared sovereignty from the micronation of Libernia during the Libernian Civil War. That December, Glastieven T of Glastieve used the term to describe a "model country within a micronation," which was New Secessionist jargon for a micronation not based on a cultural group located within a micronation that was based on a cultural group. A friend of T's, micropatriologist Saxber Blackwood, did some work to promote the term in the micronational community, incorrectly crediting T with coining it.

Blackwood introduced nanonation to the MicroWiki sector on 31 May 2019, but the term was seldom used until March 2020 when it became a meme on the MicroWiki@Discord Discord server. Though the word was initially poked fun of due to the absurdity of a micronation having the power to decline recognition to other micronations, nanonation spread from this server and entered general micronational parlance upon being used on r/micronations and the rest of the so-called "Reddit sector". The word was later included in the Institute of Micropatriological Research's Micronational Dictionary, first published on 18 October 2022.

Nanonations

See also: List of nanonations

A nanonation is a micronation which has declared independence from its parent micronation which does not recognise the seceding micronation's claim to statehood. In other words, a nanonation is to a micronation what a micronation is to a macronation. Other definitions extend the term to include any micronation located within another micronation. Broadly constructed, nanonations are a form of micronation; as such, they are generally not regarded as micronational entities—that is, an entity that closely resembles a micronation while not being one.

The concept of nanonations has not been widely-studied within micropatriology. However, many micronationalists consider the nanonation designation as redundant or valueless as nanonations and micronations are essentially identical. Others find the notion of a micronation refusing to recognise another micronation's independence as absurd or humorous; though, micronations do in fact offer or refuse recognition to both micronations and macronations, as can be observed in treaties of mutual recognition.

Nanonations are most commonly formed when a political entity declares independence from a micronation due to a civil dispute or ideological disagreement, thereby creating a micronational breakaway state. Examples are the aforementioned Wurtzemburg; the Timonian Republic, which declared independence from the Republic of SEnteral Excitement during the Timonoucitian First Civil War; the Theodore Republic, which declared independence from the TDC Empire and immediately declared a state of war against it; and the South Galwegian Democratic Republic from the Roscami Federation during the 2023 Roscami civil war.

Piconations

Entry for piconation in the fourth edition of the Micronational Dictionary (page 40)

A nanonation within a nanonation is sometimes called a piconation. This comes from the unit prefix pico- (meaning one trillionth), which is below nano-. According to the online dictionary Micronationary, the word is often humorous; although, it is included in the Micronational Dictionary which classifies it as either being jocular or a neologism. Just like the etymology of nanonation, the origin of piconation is also rooted in jocular yet dismissive statements regarding micronationalism. Piconation is first attested in a short article from the blog Boing Boing written by Rob Beschizza, which was published on 18 August 2014 under the headline "Is Dougiestan the first Piconation?"

Piconation's first attested use by a micronationalist is on 1 March 2015 by Harris, although it was referring to size rather than intermicronational secession. Its first attested use by a micronationalist in its current meaning is on 13 December 2020 by Blackwood, who added a section regarding the concept to the MicroWiki entry for nanonation. Although, they preferred the term "subnanonation" instead. Piconation was added to the first edition of the Micronational Dictionary on 18 October 2022.

One instance of where a piconation was formed organically—without the intention to form a piconation for the sake of it—was the Kingdom of Sairmaena in the summer of 2019. δ and X created the Kingdom of Mikaris in October 2018 as more of a kingdom aesthetic than a hobbyist micronation. It served as a collective label for the various projects that δ and X collaborated on. In summer 2019, they decided to create the hobbyist Kingdom of Sairmaena as a project of theirs under the umbrella of Mikaris. When T began using the term nanonation, δ suggested that Mikaris should be regarded as a nanonation within the Holy Glastieven Commonwealth, as it "basically constituted a subculture within that broader tradition." This subsequently left Sairmaena—created as a micronation in the tradition of Mikaris before Mikaris was regarded as a nanonation—as a model country within a nanonation, or a piconation.

See also

• Bedroom nation
• Glossary of micronational jargon