Sovereign State of Ironland

Sovereign State of Ironland
Flag Coat of arms
The location of Ironland at Asheville, North Carolina's Iron Sculpture
Capital and largest city	Ironland
Official languages	English
Demonym(s)	Ironlanders, Ironers, Ironic, Ferric, Irish
Government	Unitary Semi-presidential republic
• President	Christopher Thomas
• Chancellor	Joe House
Establishment	26 June 2024
Membership	~222,460 Citizens (Since August 2024)
Time zone	ET (Eastern Time Zone)
Website https://linktr.ee/magnifyvideos

The Sovereign State of Ironland, simply known as Ironland, is a self-declared sovereign state located inside Asheville, North Carolina inside a 12-foot diameter circle that encompasses the Asheville 'Flat Iron Sculpture.' that has a little cardboard robot on the handle of the statue of the iron. It was started by the YouTuber Christopher of the YouTube channel Magnify. Ironland is cited as the 'fastest growing micronation in history' with the young nation gaining thousands of citizens within a few days of its creation. It has a lot of embassies in countries such as Canada, Finland, Japan, and the United Kingdom, but none of these embassies are recognized by their host countries.

History

The Founding of Ironland

Ironland was founded on 26 June 2024 after Christopher from the YouTube channel Magnify made a video titled 'I Started a Micronation,' where he declared the nation of Ironland as well as stated that all commenters on the video would receive "complimentary citizenship in Ironland."

After the original creation of Ironland, some people responded by stating Ironland to be illegitimate and not a "real country." In defense of his nation's legitimacy, Christopher made a video titled "Is Ironland a Real Country?" In the video, Christopher cites the Montevideo Convention's four main criteria for a legitimate state and how Ironland fits them: a defined territory of a 12-foot diameter circle around an iron statue, a permanent population of a cardboard robot, a government where citizens vote on issues proposed by the President, and the ability to enter into relations with other countries such as, unofficially, Romania. Christopher states that since it appears Ironland meets the four criteria, it is a legitimate country, yet some of the justifications are tenuous.

The First Referendum

The President of Ironland held the first referendum to decide what side of the Iron statue the cardboard robot would live on: the flat or the handle side. On 5 July 2024, the results of the referendum were released. There were a total of 15,148 votes cast, with 66% for the handle side and 37.2% for the flat side. In the end, it was decided the robot would reside on the handle side of Ironland.

While the turnout of voters was only about 23%, Christopher stated that the nation received more votes in their referendum than Liechtenstein did in their last election.

Emblem Color Change

On 21 July 2024, the result of a referendum to decide Ironland's emblem color were released. Christopher revealed that as a perfect democracy (in fact the world's largest ever, with 105,979 votes cast in this referendum) we were to use an average of the voted colors rather than any one of them winning. The resulting color selected was thus "weathered brick" (hex #887374). In a more traditional first past the post voting system, the winner would have been "sunburst yellow" with only 16.7% of the vote.

Global Outreach

Currently, a vote is taking place, determining which country Ironland will attempt to reach out to via their social media accounts. The options are: Ireland, Jamaica and the Philippines. Monitor this page for further information.

The Cheese Incident

On 4 August 2024, an incident occurred on Ironland's Discord server. The crisis began when members of the Supreme Court known as 'Supreme Court Justices' voted on the constitution, after gathering their votes they shared the result to the server which appointed Joe House as the new chancellor, The current unofficial chancellor 'Mr. Cheese' was unhappy with the result, leading to a 2 hour argument between the court and Mr. Cheese. This eventually led to a vote being held to remove Mr. Cheese from his current roles. The vote gathered attention from the citizens with 90% voting Mr. Cheese to be removed from his role. Mr. Cheese then deleted the server, leaving many in outrage. Then, a new server was created and built back up to normal, and Joe House officially became Chancellor, ending the crisis.

The First Ironland Embassy Awards

After magnify passed a million subscribers on Youtube, and embassies in 46 macronations were established, Christopher decided to give out awards to ones such as the most scenic, and ones that best represent their host country. On September 14th, voting will end, but the awards are yet to be given out.

Geography and National Regions

Ironland is mainly divided into two regions: the handle side and the flat side. The only region to have a "permanent" population is the handle side which is inhabited by a single cardboard robot.

Flat Side

The flat side of Ironland is the less popular region of Ironland. It faces Northwest and is commonly adorned with decorations as well as used as a backdrop for many buskers in Ironland.

Handle Side

The handle side of Ironland is the most and only populated region of Ironland. While more popular, it isn't commonly used as much as the flat side but remains more aesthetically pleasing.

Government and Politics

Propaganda Poster for Ironland

Structure and Function

Ironland's government is structured around a constitutional monarchy, where citizens actively participate in the legislative process through digital platforms, notably utilizing Google Forms for voting and decision-making with Christopher as King and Joe House as Chancellor. This digital integration allows for efficient and transparent governance, enabling citizens to engage in policy discussions and vote on key initiatives from anywhere in the world.

Key Features

• Digital Voting Google Forms serve as the primary tool for conducting elections and referendums within Ironland. This method ensures accessibility and inclusivity, as citizens can cast their votes remotely.

Citizen Participation

Central to Ironland's governance philosophy is the active participation of its citizens. Through Google Forms, residents of Ironland can propose new laws, vote on policy changes, and express their opinions on matters affecting the micronation. This direct involvement fosters a sense of community and ownership among the populace, reinforcing the legitimacy of the government's actions.

Government Departments

So far, four departments are a part of the Chancellor's cabinet. Secretaries are heading each.

• Department of Foreign Affairs
• Department of Home Affairs
• Department of the Treasury
• Department of Defense

Political Parties

So far Ironland has 4 Parties.

• The Sneetah Party: The biggest party for now with 35 members. Centre-Right Party.
• The Ironland First Party: With 26 members. Centre Party.
• The Nationalist Party of Ironland: With 16 members. Right-wing Party.
• The Ironlandic Party for the people: With 18 members. Left-wing party.

Ironland has a demolished party called The Ironland Party To The Skies.The Chancellor Joe House decided to demolish the party due to inactivity, no longer having any members.

Political Coalitions

On the 23 of August, the current chairman of The Sneetah Party Morocco contacted the chairman of the Ironlandic Party Of The People Pavulam to know about their policies. The Sneetah Party liked the policies so they decided to coalition and it was a success. After the formation of the coalition The Ironland First Party (IFP) Wanted to join this coalition but it was postponed. On the 25th of August, the Ironlandic Party For The People decided (IPP) decided to make a vote wanting the IFP to join. The current chairman Morocco said that there was no need for the vote because he already agreed with his vice chairman Abubakar Ibrahim I to further continue the deal but he kept the vote wanting to see what does the people want. A deal was sealed with vice chairman Joe House and ended the vote.The vote was mostly in favour of The IFP joining. So far there are only one coalition that is the IPP-SNP-IFP.

Diplomacy

According to Ironland's President, the nation established ten embassies in less than a week past its founding. Embassies can be opened up by any member of Ironland, For an embassy to be official and established, they must be recognized by the country they reside in. The first nation to open up an Ironland embassy was the U.S. at the Dolly Parton Statue in Sevierville, Tennessee. Other countries where Ironland embassies are established are Canada, Finland, Indonesia, the Maldives, Iran, Ukraine, Italy, Algeria, Japan, Switzerland, Hungary, Poland, Czechia, and Wales.So far, none of the embassies that have been established have been recognized by the governments of the host countries they reside. However, Ironland and the TikTok account for Romania have had unofficial talks about possibly establishing an embassy in Biertan, Romania, in the future. Christopher later revealed that Romania would consider recognizing Ironland’s diplomatic mission if their TikTok account reaches 2 million followers. The Romanian TikTok account has since reached this milestone; the task was completed in less than 24 hours. However, as TikTok Romania is run by a tourism group, they can't officially grant Ironland a embassy, but it will make negotiations with the Romanian government easier.

Foreign Relations

Allied	Unilateral Recognition	Recognition revoked	Unrecognized	Condemned
The Federation of Saikos Republic of New York	Republic of Verdana Principality of Rummlandia