Micronations/List of already existing micronations/Aerican Empire
The Aerican Empire (conventionally referred to in short form as Aerica) is a micronation founded in May 1987,[1] which has no sovereign territory of its own and has never been recognized by any other sovereign state as existing. The name is cultured from the term "American Empire".[2] In 2000 The New York Times described its website as "one of the more imaginative" micronation sites.[3]
Its members claim sovereignty over a vast disconnected territory, including a square kilometer 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, and an imaginary planet.[4]
Their flag is similar to the flag of Canada, with a large yellow smiley face instead of the red maple leaf in the white square (although the red rectangles on the sides have different side length ratios).
History
[edit | edit source]The Aerican Empire was founded on May 8, 1987 by Canadian Eric Lis and a group of friends. For the first ten years the Empire was almost wholly fictional, claiming sovereignty over a vast galaxy of planets and engaging in wars against other micronations.[5] 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 a political entity rather than a hobby. In 1997, the Empire created a website.[6]
In 2007, Aerica first issued "novelty passports." The first issued passport was exhibited in the Palais de Tokyo 2007 Micronational art exhibition.[7]
The Aerican Empire first issued coinage in November 2009, and a second coin was minted to celebrate Aerica's 25th anniversary in 2012.[8] Banknotes were issued for the first time in 2017.[8]
Aerica issued stamps for the first time in 2015.[9]
Status
[edit | edit source]
The Empire's mission statement is: "The Empire exists to facilitate the evolution of a society wherein the Empire itself is no longer necessary."[5][10][11] It claims to be organized as a parliamentary democracy, with various elected bodies and offices, under the oversight of an Emperor (currently the founder, Eric Lis).[12] 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[13] and Weird Tales magazine.[14][15]
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.[5] It also developed a "religion" called Silinism, the worship of the Great Penguin; originally intended as a joke, but which the group claims to have thirty practitioners worldwide.[3] It has holidays and "niftydays" (such as 2 January Procrastinator's Day, 27 February *Oops* Day, 19 March What the Heck is That Day, and 26 October Topin Wagglegammon, The Niftiest Day of the Year).[16]
Offline activities
[edit | edit source]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 and other centers, and a twentieth anniversary convention was held in July 2007.[17]
Delegations from the Aerican Empire were in attendance at the Polinations academic conference in London in 2012 [18][19] and the MicroCon micronations convention in Atlanta in 2017.[20]
References
[edit | edit source]- ↑ Ryan, J: Micronations: The Lonely Planet Guide to Self-Proclaimed Nations, ISBN 1-74104-730-7
- ↑ Aerican Empire: FAQ at the group's website, section "What kind of name is Aerica?". Retrieved July 2009.
- ↑ a b 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][dead link] and [2][dead link]
- ↑ a b c The Montreal Mirror: The Montreal Mirror , 17 August 2006, "The little empire that could"
- ↑ O'Driscoll, F: Ils ne siègent pas à l'ONU, ISBN 2-87867-251-8
- ↑ Aerican Mailing List Archive, [3], December 2, 2006
- ↑ a b Aerican Empire: Economics
- ↑ Aerican Empire Post, [4], May 8, 2015
- ↑ The Boston Phoenix: The Boston Phoenix , October 2000, "States of Mind".
- ↑ CBC Daybreak: Daybreak, 13 July 2006, "The Aerican Empire: Interview With Eric Lis". Montreal: CBC Radio
- ↑ Le Soleil, Quebec City: Le Soleil, 18 January 2001, "Vive Eric 1er, empereur virtuel!"
- ↑ 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".
- ↑ Context Magazine: Context Magazine, April–May 2001, "Altered States".
- ↑ Aerican Empire: 20th Anniversary Convention
- ↑ Delafontaine, L., Les Micronations, Montreuil-sur-Brêche, Diaphane, 14 September 2013, pages 160, ISBN 978-2-919077-19-9
- ↑ Radio France: 15 July 2012, archived at
- ↑ Atlanta Magazine: Atlanta Magazine, 30 June 2017, "You probably didn't know, but leaders from 26 micronations just gathered in Atlanta".