Sealand

Overview

The Principality of Sealand, commonly known simply as Sealand, is a small micronation off the coast of Suffolk on a World War II Fort named HM Fort Roughs. Due to its small area of 0.004 km² and population of around 20, the micronation has been mocked frequently on the internet.^[1][2]

History and Establishment

During World War II, Great Britan constructed numerous forts as a way to defend against German ships. After the war, the forts were abandoned by British troops, allowing them to be used by Radio Pirates. One of the forts, HM Fort Roughs, was claimed by Paddy Roy Bates and Ronan O'Rahily. After O'Rahily was kicked out of the Fort, Roy Bates' family permanently moved to the tower and, after an argument with British Royal Marines, declared HM Fort Roughs as a separate country named the Principality of Sealand.^[3] After this declaration, Sealand survived an invasion with German and Dutch mercenaries, taking the invaders hostage and demanding £24,132 so they could be released.

Online Relevance

Sealand has long been joked about on the internet due to its small size and small population. Memes about the country tend to take the shape of Polandball edits. Many of these come from the Facebook meme page Sealandball.^[5] For example, a post by the group on July 23rd has gained over 100 likes and shares (shown below).

The principality has also been mocked in numerous Demotivational Posters. For example, the poster shown below, left, was posted to DeviantArt on October 13th, 2011 by CatastrophicMeltdown.^[6] Another by chocolatelover482^[7] was posted August 25th, 2012 (shown below, right).

Hetalia

In the popular anime series Hetalia: Axis Powers, a personification of Sealand is introduced as a character in Episode 21. (Official clip is shown below.) The nation character is mainly ignored by the other country personification and only is taken seriously by unrecognized nations and other micronations such as Wy and Northern Cyprus.^[4]

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References