A microstate or ministate is a sovereign state having a very small population or very small land area, but usually both. As the meaning of neither "state" nor "very small" is clear, the recent attempts to define microstates focus on identifying political entities with unique qualitative features linked to their geographic or demographic limitations. According to a qualitative definition, microstates are: "modern protected states, i.e. sovereign states that have been able to unilaterally depute certain attributes of sovereignty to larger powers in exchange for benign protection of their political and economic viability against their geographic or demographic constraints." In line with this and most other definitions the examples of microstates include: Liechtenstein, Monaco, San Marino, Niue and the Federated States of Micronesia.
The smallest political unit recognised as a sovereign state is Vatican City, with 842 citizens as of July 2013 and an area of only 0.44 km². However, some scholars dispute qualifying Vatican as a state arguing that it does not meet the "traditional criteria of statehood" and that the "special status of the Vatican City is probably best regarded as a means of ensuring that the Pope can freely exercise his spiritual functions, and in this respect is loosely analogous to that of the headquarters of international organisations."
Microstates are distinct from micronations, which are not recognized as sovereign states. Special territories without full sovereignty, such as the British Crown Dependencies, The Chinese Special Administrative Regions and overseas territories of Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Norway and the United Kingdom, are also not considered microstates.
The Community of Microstates is an international organisation representing sovereign states having a very small population and a very small land area. Its purpose is to be a place where NationStates' microstates can gather, discuss RP ideas, and put them into practice, away from the grim sound of guns and marching armies that so often characterizes the Multiverse's bigger polities.
If you want to become a member of the COM, your nation has to:
Have less than 500,000 inhabitants and/or be smaller than 1,000 km².
Be a MT nation.
And you have to:
Be an active RPer.
Fill this form:
Name of Nation:
Form of Government:
Official Language:
Population:
Land Area:
Name of Nation: Principality of Ilva
Form of Government: Constitutional monarchy
Official Language: Corsican, Tuscan
Population: 34,250
Land Area: 295 km²
Ferraia, capital of the Principality of Ilva and seat of the COM
Members
Ilva
Kemobon
