If you are an island owner chances are more than once people have asked the question, “so can you like start your own country?” I usually respond sarcastically saying something along the lines of:

“Yes, Amherst Island is a sovereign country within Michigan. The American government has no problem with individuals declaring their island  independent territory.”

My sarcasm is usually enough to make people see how preposterous it is to think you could claim sovereignty on your island over the nation that it belongs to. The fact of the matter is, is that there is no unclaimed land left in the world (that we know of anyway), therefore countries tend to get upset when individuals come in and try to set up their own little micronation. One of my favorite sites, world island info did a post back in 2006 on the problems with trying to start your own country. In all my years of reading about this topic, I believe this post among the most concise, informative and articulate. Click here to read it.

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