![]() The Sealand family argues that their nation had fulfilled the requirements of the Montevideo convention before the UK extended its territory. ![]() Sealand, sitting six miles offshore, was suddenly, technically, on British land. Things got a little bit more complicated in 1987, when the United Kingdom extended its territorial waters from three miles to 12. Technically, only 16 states have ratified the convention, and all of them lie in the Americas, but according to the American Society for International Law, “the Montevideo Convention is generally regarded as the standard definition of the state". According to this, a nationhood requires four things: a permanent population, a defined territory, a government, and the “capacity to enter into relations with the other states.” Sealand supporters argue that Sealand has fulfilled all four of those requirements. ![]() The Montevideo Convention on the Rights and Duties of States that Michael is referring to was signed in 1933 at the International Conference of American States. During the war, somewhere between 100 and 120 naval officers were stationed on the tower, but in the early 1950s the tower was abandoned. Sealand was originally called HM Fort Roughs or Roughs Tower, one of four naval sea forts designed by Guy Maunsell for the British Royal Navy to defend against the Germans in World War Two. The precise history of Sealand is contested, but here is, essentially, how it came to be. What can the experiences of the Bates family tell those who dream about ocean living? Today, as futurists, tech billionaires and libertarians start looking to the sea for the next stage of cities and governance, Sealand serves as a tiny example, a strange and intriguing case study of all the good and the bad of living on the waves. Sealand has a football team, its flag has been run up Mount Everest, and it offers personalised knighthood for a mere £99 ($145). Michael, the son of Roy Bates, is the Prince of the Principality of Sealand, a contested micronation that, despite its size, has become a darling of adventurers and journalists alike. Michael Bates grew up seven nautical miles off the coast of England, on a platform made of concrete and metal. ![]()
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