Liberland Turns Two: New at Reason

Thanks to a long-standing border dispute between two parts of the former Yugoslavia, there was a little slice of unclaimed land on the west bank of the Danube River. Croatia would prefer recognizing a border more closely corresponding to an older flow of the Danube, while Serbia is happy with the current Danube-defined border. That leaves a teardrop-shaped piece of land about 7 square kilometers on the Croatian side that neither country wants to claim. In April 2015, Vit Jedlicka, a Czech activist and market analyst, declared the disputed turf terra nullius and established his own country there: Liberland.

In contrast with the gradualist approach taken by seasteaders and charter city founders, Liberlanders essentially came at Croatia “with both middle fingers up right away and just talked to the press,” says Joe McKinney of the Startup Societies Foundation.

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