This new libertarian micro-nation has 250,000 applicants for citizenship

If you've ever been told to "love it or leave it," now you may have a new opportunity for leaving it — it being American citizenship, that is. A libertarian politician from the Czech Republic has staked his claim on a small piece of no-man's land on the border of Croatia and Serbia. The 2.7 square mile area is dubbed "Liberland," and even without official recognition as a sovereign nation, it has already attracted some 250,000 applications for citizenship.

"All my opponents told me, 'you should have your own state to prove your ideas of liberty,'" says Vít Jedlička, the young Czech working to make Liberland a reality. So he did just that, and found one of the world's few pieces of unclaimed territory that is relatively close to home.

Jedlička says he is on sound footing in international law, and he plans to allow citizens of Liberland — the vast majority of whom will never live there or even visit — to decide their own tax rate supporting a minimal government. The national motto is "Live and let live."

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up