Top 5 weirdest nations

On 17 December 2011, the supreme leader of North Korea Kim Jong-il died from a heart attack. His youngest son Kim Jong-un was announced as his successor.

In 2013 an international crisis erupted regarding North Korea’s attempts to develop intercontinental ballistic missiles.

In North korea, it seems that everyone is automatically given a job by the government after high school–and stuck with that job for life. However, the system is breaking down, and North Koreans now have to earn money on their own–by bribing their factory bosses, for example, to let them go to work in markets. There are other jobs in state-run “companies” that earn foreign currency–but they also require bribery to get into.

In 2010, the North Korean soccer team was publicly derided for their loss at the FIFA World Cup for six hours. Jeez, that’s almost as bad as having to play soccer. The country is dreaded for its possession of nuclear weapons.

The Principality of Sealand is an unrecognised micronation, that claims Roughs Tower, an offshore platform located in the North Sea approximately 12 kilometres (7.5 mi) off the coast of Suffolk, England, as its territory. Roughs Tower is a disused Maunsell Sea Fort, originally called HM Fort Roughs, built as an anti-aircraft defensive gun platform by the British during World War II.

Since 1967, the decommissioned HM Fort Roughs has been occupied by family and associates of Paddy Roy Bates, who claim that it is an independent sovereign state. Bates seized it from a group of pirate radio broadcasters in 1967 with the intention of setting up his own station at the site. He attempted to establish Sealand as a nation-state in 1975 with the writing of a national constitution and establishment of other national symbols.

While it has been described as the world’s smallest country or nation, Sealand is not officially recognised by any established sovereign state in spite of Sealand’s government’s claim that it has been de facto recognised by the United Kingdom and Germany. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea in force since 1994 states “Artificial islands, installations and structures do not possess the status of islands. They have no territorial sea of their own, and their presence does not affect the delimitation of the territorial sea, the exclusive economic zone or the continental shelf.” Sealand was not grandfathered, and sits in British waters.

One of the most unusual countries is the Other World Kingdom (OWK) in the Czech Republic. Founded on June 1, 1996, in this weird nation’s matriarchic society, women rule over men. With complete female dominance, OWK is ruled by Her Royal Majesty Queen Patricia 1, below whom, in the hierarchy, are “Sublime Ladies” and “Lady Citizens” who belong to the kingdom’s nobility. Each woman owns a man as her slave. Below these “noble” women in the hierarchy are men who follow the Queen’s law and pay taxes, nevertheless enjoying a modicum of freedom. The lowest in the hierarchy are enslaved men with no rights under law, and are regarded as farm animals. Though some say OWK is only a resort and not a country, it has its own currency, passport, police force, flag, and national anthem.

Waveland (Rockall) is not just a tall rock jutting out of the ocean, but also a truly weird and unusual country. This rocky uninhibited island near the United Kingdom was occupied briefly by Greenpeace to protest against oil drilling in the area. Several states have claimed interests over the sea bed adjoining Rockall. Denmark (for the Faroe Islands), Iceland, Ireland and the United Kingdom have all made submissions to the commission set up under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

5. LADONIA

Ladonia is one of the strangest micro-nations. It came about as a result of a legal battle between the local authorities and the artist Lars Vilks, over Nimis and Arx, two sculptures he had created. Proclaimed in 1996, this weird country is a section of the natural reserve in Southern Sweden’s enclave. This strange country had begun with a population of zero but now has 15,000 Ladonian citizens.

Those are our weirdest nations in the world though most of them have not really attained that full nation status. Hence they are called micro-nations.

Read also: Top 10 Weirdest Buildings on Earth