Is Sealand a Country?

The United Nations is an international organization, with headquarters in New York City, formed to promote international peace, security, and cooperation under the terms of the charter signed by 51 founding countries in San Francisco in 1945. A country is a politically organized body of people under a single government. Under the UN a country is only recognized as a country if there is a constitution or government, territory, population and sovereignty. Sealand should be considered a state for many reasons. Including the features of a state, where it is located, and how it was derived. On 2 September 1967, they hoisted their own flag and declared the existence of a new state - the Principality of Sealand.

Sealand accords with all four features of a state. The first feature of a state is a territory. Sealand is an island fort that was created in World War 2 by Britain and then abandoned to jurisdiction of the High Seas.

sealand-x

English: Principality of Sealand

HM Fort Roughs, also known as Roughs Tower

The second feature of a state is population. A family, the population, that was dissatisfied with the opposite laws of England created Sealand. It was called the Roughs Towers until it was taken over by a family who late named it Sealand. The third feature of a state is Government. Sealand has created and enforced many laws. The final feature of a state is Sovereignty. Sovereignty is the supreme and independent power or authority in government as possessed or claimed by a state or community - another key element of a government. The people of Sealand needed the right to protect their borders. They have been attacked many times by naval forces and pirates. Sealand protected itself against all these threats through all of these attacks with their weapons. Finally, given these facts Sealand meets all the requirements of being a country, especially meeting the all features of a state.

Another reason why Sealand should be considered a state is because of where it is located. Sealand is located six miles off the coast of England. It is in international waters so it is not property of England. It was free to be taken over by whom ever claimed it.

The last reason why Sealand should be considered a state is because how it was derived. People settled there because they were not happy with the law in England. They settled on free land that was not property to anybody. Gradually, over the years, Sealand has become increasingly secure and internationally accepted. The international Lawyers and other Jurists stated that Sealand fulfilled all the legal requirements of a State and that the Sovereignty of Sealand was absolute and unquestionable. Given these facts, why should Sealand be neglected as a state whilst legally they are entitled to be recognized as a country. Therefore, there is no reason why Sealand should not be considered a state. It follows every guideline of the features of a state. Also, Sealand is located in international water so when it was settled on, it was not property of any country.

English: Sealand couple months after the fire.

Location of Micronation Principality of Sealand in...

Sealand from a helicopter.

sealand-datacenter