Republic of Minerva

The Republic of Minerva was a micronation consisting of the Minerva Reefs. It was one of the few modern attempts at creating a sovereign micronation on the reclaimed land of an artificial island in 1972. The architect was Las Vegas real estate millionaire and political activist Michael Oliver, who went on to other similar attempts in the following decade. Lithuanian-born Oliver formed a syndicate, the Ocean Life Research Foundation, which had considerable finances for the project and had offices in New York and London.[1] They anticipated a libertarian society with "no taxation, welfare, subsidies, or any form of economic interventionism." In addition to tourism and fishing, the economy of the new nation would include light industry and other commerce. According to Glen Raphael, "The chief reason that the Minerva project failed was that the libertarians who were involved did not want to fight for their territory."[2] According to Reason, Minerva has been "more or less reclaimed by the sea".[3]

Republic of Minerva

Micronation
Flag
Motto: "Land of the Rising Atoll"
LanguageEnglish
Organizational structureRepublic
• President
Morris C Davis, 1972-1973, 1982
Defunct (now part of Tonga)
• Foundation
19 January 1972
Membership42
Purported currencyMinerva Dollar
Succeeded by
Tonga

History
Landing on Minerva, years after the confrontation.
More people walking on Minerva.

It is not known when the reefs were first discovered but had been marked on charts as "Nicholson's Shoal" since the late 1820s. Capt H. M. Denham of the HMS Herald surveyed the reefs in 1854 and renamed them after the Australian whaler Minerva which collided with South Minerva Reef on 9 September 1829.[4]

In 1971, barges loaded with sand arrived from Australia, bringing the reef level above the water and allowing construction of a small tower and flag. The Republic of Minerva issued a declaration of independence on 19 January 1972,[5] in letters to neighboring countries and even created their own currency. Morris C. Davis was elected as President of the Republic of Minerva.[6]

The declaration of independence, however, was greeted with great suspicion by other countries in the area. A conference of the neighboring states (Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, Fiji, Nauru, Samoa, and territory of Cook Islands) met on 24 February 1972 at which Tonga made a claim over the Minerva Reefs and the rest of the states recognized its claim.

On 15 June 1972, the following proclamation was published in a Tongan government gazette:

PROCLAMATION

His Majesty King Taufaʻahau Tupou IV in Council DOES HEREBY PROCLAIM:
WHEREAS the Reefs known as North Minerva Reef and South Minerva Reef have long served as fishing grounds for the Tongan people and have long been regarded as belonging to the Kingdom of Tonga has now created on these Reefs islands known as Teleki Tokelau and Teleki Tonga; AND WHEREAS it is expedient that we should now confirm the rights of the Kingdom of Tonga to these islands; THEREFORE we do hereby AFFIRM and PROCLAIM that the islands, rocks, reefs, foreshores and waters lying within a radius of twelve miles [19.31 km] thereof are part of our Kingdom of Tonga.[7]

A Tongan expedition was sent to enforce the claim, arriving on 18 June 1972. The Flag of the Tonga was raised on 19 June 1972 on North Minerva and on South Minerva on 21 June 1972. Tonga's claim was recognized by the South Pacific Forum in September 1972.[1] Meanwhile, Provisional President Davis was fired by founder Michael Oliver and the project collapsed in confusion. Nevertheless, Minerva was referred to in O. T. Nelson's post-apocalyptic children's novel The Girl Who Owned a City, published in 1975, as an example of an invented utopia that the book's protagonists could try to emulate.

In 1982, a group of Americans led again by Morris C. "Bud" Davis tried to occupy the reefs, but were forced off by Tongan troops after three weeks. In recent years several groups have allegedly sought to re-establish Minerva. No known claimant group since 1982 has made any attempt to take possession of the Minerva Reefs.

In November 2005, Fiji lodged a complaint with the International Seabed Authority concerning Tonga's maritime waters claims surrounding Minerva. Tonga has lodged a counter claim. The Minerva "principality" group also claims to have lodged a counter claim.

Coins
  • The obverse of the 35 Minerva Dollar coin
  • The reverse of the 1973 35 Minerva Dollar coin

See also

Footnotes
  1. Jenkins, Doug. "A true record of the Minerva Reef saga of 1972 and the part played by the Tongan Shipping Company Vessel Olovaha". Retrieved 17 November 2014.
  2. Raphael, Glen. "A Non-Non-Libertarian FAQ: Responses to Mike Huben". impel.com. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
  3. Mangu-Ward, Katherine (August–September 2008). "Artifact: Hope Floats". Reason Magazine. Retrieved 6 June 2011.
  4. Ruhen, Olaf. Minerva Reef, Minerva Bookshop Limited, 1963, p. 7
  5. Middleton, Nick (2015). An Atlas of Countries That Don't Exist: A Compendium of Fifty Unrecognized and Largely Unnoticed States. London: Macmillan. p. 198. ISBN 978-1-4472-9527-3.
  6. Mike Parsons in Port Vila (July 1981). "Phoenix: ashes to ashes". New Internationalist. Archived from the original on 11 May 2010.
  7. "Proclamation concerning the Teleki Tokelau and Teleki Tonga Islands of 15 June 1972". FAO. 15 June 1972. LEX-FAOC005226. Retrieved 12 February 2020.

References
  • Strauss, Erwin S. How to Start Your Own Country, 2nd ed. Port Townsend, WA: Breakout Productions, 1984. ISBN 1-893626-15-6
  • Olaf Ruhen, Minerva Reef (Halstead Press, Sydney, 1963)
  • Samuel Pyeatt Menefee, "Republics of the Reefs": Nation-Building on the Continental Shelf and in the World's Oceans,California Western International Law Journal, vol. 25, no. 1, Fall 1994
  • South Seas: The Minerva Ploy, Newsweek, 23 October 1972
  • South Sea Reef Proclaimed a Republic by 3 Americans, New York Times, 30 January 1972
  • Micronations: Principality of Minerva, FHM Estonia, January 2005
  • Principality of Minerva, Lahontan Valley News and Fallon Eagle Standard, by David Henley, December 2004

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