There’s no one definition to what makes something a country.
What decides if a country is a country essentially is whether or not other countries agree that
the country is indeed a country.
For this reason, counts of the number of countries in the world range from 189-196.
Each country decides which other countries they recognize.
If 100 UN member states suddenly recognized your basement as it’s own country then it
generally would be accepted that your basement is it’s own country.
There are, however, a number of steps that any prospective country founder needs to take
if they want to have any shot at gaining international recognition.
Make a Claim The first thing any one needs to begin creating
a country is a piece of land.
One way to get it is to steal it.
Of course, this involves having enough guns to defend your territory.
This would also be problematic for when your country gets to the stage where it’s legitimacy
is reviewed by other nations, but this method has worked before.
The easier method is to claim unclaimed land.
However, with the advent of satellite imaging and modern cartography there really are no
islands or large pieces of territory that are not known.
Despite this, there is a small number of places not governed or claimed by any recognized
government.
One of the better known recent claims happened in an area unclaimed by both Croatia and Serbia
along the Danube river, the border between the two countries.
This micronation, known as Liberland, has not received any international recognition
and has been denounced by a number of nations, but it still affirms it’s legitimacy based
off the lack of previous claim to it’s land.
Its land is actually 17 times larger than the land of the smallest recognized country,
the Vatican.
Serbia did agree that Liberland did not infringe upon it’s territory, but also dismissed
the endeavor as “frivolous.”
Other new nations have had more success at international recognition.
Most of these are partially recognized nations that split away from a more recognized state
with the backing of the people within the territory.
An example of this is South Ossetia, which split away from Georgia in 1990 and currently
is recognized by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Nauru.
Probably the best known and most hotly contested recently formed nation is the State of Palestine.
136 nations recognize the Palestine and in 2012 it was designated by the United Nations
as a “non-member observer state.”
One other option for unclaimed land is Antartica.
A large section of land known as the Marie Byrd land has not been claimed by any recognized
nation.
One issue with this option is the United Nations’s “Antartica Treaty” which states that “No
new claim, or enlargement of an existing claim, to territorial sovereignty shall be asserted
while the present Treaty is in force.”
There are claims that pre-exist this treaty by seven different nations, although the legitimacy
of these claims is disputed given the treaty.
In addition to the Antarctic Treaty issue, establishing a sovereign nation in Antartica
would be difficult because of the next step in the process.
Establish a permanent population A nation is created to serve it’s people,
and without people there is no nation.
Antartica has no permanent population.
There are always people in Antartica, but these people do not constitute a permanent
population because they are primarily there for research or tourism and none stay in Antartica
for more than a few years.
Interestingly 11 babies have been born in Antartica, but they generally have taken the
citizenship of their parents's country.
A permanent population is one of the most basic qualifiers for statehood.
A sustainable independent nation would be near impossible in Antartica.
Any settlement would have no real economy and no way to naturally produce food.
However, there are talks of Antartica having oil and, if this is the case, a sovereign
and potentially prosperous nation could be established in the hostile environment, much
like the United Arab Emirates.
Similar to the dozens of Antarctic micronation claims, Liberland struggles with a lack of
permanent population.
The founder’s attempts to re-enter the territory have been blocked by both Serbia and Croatia.
At this point, it seems unlikely that a permanent population will be established in the near
future and for this reason the future of Liberland is bleak.
3) Form a Government A well formed government is probably the most
important aspect dictating the success of your new country.
There are tons of forms of government, but considering you’re forming this country
in the 21st century you’re likely to base the government on John Locke’s principles
of government.
Locke's principles essentially say that, in nature, everybody has the right to “Life,
health, Liberty, or Possessions.”
You might notice a similarity between this and another famous document.
According to Locke, in a natural society, that is without a government, these rights
are not protected because there is no higher power to do so, so in exchange for taking
away a part of these rights, for example liberty when imprisoned or property when taxed, the
government acts to protect the very same rights.
Locke also states that government only works when there is a common belief in the abstract
idea or illusion of government, and therefore a government can only really exist when the
people are behind it.
This is the reason that autocratic or absolutist governments rarely work in modern society.
So now keeping these principles in mind, you need a constitution.
Every single recognized country in the world either has a constitution, or some substitution
to it.
This is not a complicated process, so I won’t go into too much detail, but essentially any
country must have a set of laws, principles, and entities that make up the country and
the constitution works to define and specify these.
4) Gain International Recognition This is where all you work comes under scrutiny.
Gaining international recognition is by far the most difficult step in the country creating
process.
It takes potentially hundreds of years for new countries to be fully or near fully recognized.
Chances are that, unless you have overwhelming backing from the people within your country,
a good reason for the establishment of your new nation, absolutely undisputed territory,
and a well-balanced democratic government, you won’t be recognized by any UN member
states.
The chances of a new well recognized nation outside of Africa or the Balkans is unlikely.
The governments are too well-established or stable outside of these areas.
The final step to gain undisputed recognition is to be admitted to the United Nations.
Any application is reviewed by the security council—composed of China, France, the Russian
Federation, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, the United States of
America, and a rotating group of 10 others.
If 10 of the 15 vote in favor of your country, congratulations, you’ve just joined the
United Nations!
By most metrics, you’re now a country.
Of course, other United Nations members still can fail to recognize you,and there are plenty
of UN member states that are not fully recognized, however that’s a topic for another time.
So good luck with your new country, thanks for watching, and see you next time.