The Grand Duchy of Flandrensis (

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

: ) is a

micronation A micronation is a polity, political entity whose representatives claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by any sovereign state. Micronations are classified separately from list o ...

with claims over some territories of

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean (also known as the Antarctic Ocean), it contains the geographic South Pole. ...

, which was founded in 2008 by the Belgian Niels Vermeersch. Flandrensis is not recognised by any country or government, VANSTEENKISTE, A., "Hoogledenaar is Groothertog van micronatie Flandrensis", Het Nieuwsblad, 13 September 2012, page 22-22 VERHAEGHE, H.,
Middagpost West-Vlaanderen
'', Radio 2, 13 September 2012 (interview with Niels Vermeersch) BELENFANT, M., ''Sa Majesté le Grand-Duc de Flandrensis brise la glace'', 'Le Jeu de l'Oie: La Revue Internationale de Sciences – Po Lille', April 2014, page 30-31 nor is it their intention to get diplomatic recognition.The Brussels Times
Springtime of micronations spearheaded by Belgian "Grand-Duke" Niels
8 December 2015 Since 2021 the micronation is registered in Belgium as the environmental non-profit organization “vzw Groothertogdom Flandrensis”.,

', Kruispuntbank Ondernemingen, 12 August 2021

History

The Grand Duchy of Flandrensis was founded on September 4, 2008 as a temporary hobby for two weeks. Oeuillet, J., ''Le business des vanités : enquête sur les arnaques à la noblesse'', Ed. du Moment, 16 April 2015, pages 207, The

is inspired by the medieval

County of Flanders The County of Flanders was one of the most powerful political entities in the medieval Low Countries, located on the North Sea coast of modern-day Belgium and north-eastern France. Unlike the neighbouring states of Duchy of Brabant, Brabant and ...

(Pagus Flandrensis). Flandrensis was regarded by the founder first as a hobby-micronation, and later as an ecological venture, to raise awareness of ice melting and climate change. Since 2021 the micronation is also an environmental non-profit organization. The micronation has its own identity cards,

currency A currency is a standardization of money in any form, in use or circulation as a medium of exchange, for example banknotes and coins. A more general definition is that a currency is a ''system of money'' in common use within a specific envi ...

heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...

, newspaper,

constitution A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organization or other type of entity, and commonly determines how that entity is to be governed. When these pri ...

, and

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

. Until 2014, Flandrensis was partly a political simulation, with political parties GHEERAERT, T., ''Diplomatieke rel om een deel van Antarctica'', Het Wekelijks Nieuws, 05 September 2013, page 10-11 GHEERAERT, T., ''Verkiezingen in Flandrensis'', Het Wekelijks Nieuws, 17 October 2014, page 62 and organised yearly elections. Professor Alastair Bonnett of the University of Newcastle described Flandrensis as an example of a micronation that is inspired by a city council in which young people learn to make decisions. In 2021 the micronation was composed of 741 citizens from 71 different nationalities. Outside of the internet, the activities of Flandrensians were restricted to the region around

Roeselare Roeselare (; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the Flemish province of West Flanders. The municipality comprises the city of Roeselare proper and the towns of Beveren, Oekene and Rumbeke. The name of the city is derived from two ...

, but the official embassy is now located in the West-Flemish town

Sint-Juliaan Langemark is a village in the Belgian province of West Flanders, and a subdivision of the municipality of Langemark-Poelkapelle. The village has about 5,000 inhabitants. Besides the village center, there are also three smaller hamlets on the ...

. MAZARS, P., “Micronations: la tournée du grand-duc", ''

Le Journal du Dimanche ''Le Journal du Dimanche'' (; ), also known as the JDD , is a French weekly newspaper published on Sundays in France. JDD was bought in 2023 by Vivendi of media mogul Vincent Bolloré, triggering a strike movement against the new editorial s ...

'', 28 July 2014 CORNILLIE, B., “Niels, groothertog van Flandrensis'', Het Laatste Nieuws, 29 August 2014, page 20'' Flandrensis was represented at several international conferences on micronations, such as Polination London (2012) and Perugia (2015), and the

MicroCon MicroCon is a biennial w:summit (meeting), summit or conference of micronation, micronationalists held in every other year since April 11, 2015. The event was created by Kevin Baugh of the Republic of Molossia, and every summit since has been h ...

conventions in Atlanta (2017) and Las Vegas (2022). BONZOM, N., « Le sommet francophone des micronations, entre folkore et engagement citoyen », 20 minutes, 26 September 2016, PLACER, A., Sommet de micronations sur le pavé: folklorique et citoyen, La Voix du Nord, 21 January 2018 In August 2023 Flandrensis hosted the first European edition of

Ypres, Belgium Ypres ( ; ; ; ; ) is a Belgian city and municipality in the province of West Flanders. Though the Dutch name is the official one, the city's French name is most commonly used in English. The municipality comprises the city of Ypres/Ieper ...

along with the Royal Republic of Ladonia. GHEERAERT, T., “(Belgium) GHEERAERT, T., "Groothertog van Flandrensis organiseert conventie in Ieper", Het Wekelijks Nieuws, 04 August 2023, page 26 In May 2022 the founder was invited as a speaker at ChangeNow, an international climate summit in Paris to talk about Flandrensis and environmental micronationalism.

Territory

Flandrensis is regarded by the founder as an ecological venture, to raise awareness of ice melting, hereby Niels Vermeersch was one of the first who introduced the concept of environmental micronationalism. STROCHLIC, N., ''Ieder zijn eigen koninkrijk'', National Geographic, April 2016, page 8-9 Flandrensis has no intentions to visit their claimed territories. PRUDENT, R., Envie d’être chef ? Toi aussi, crée ta micronation en dix leçons '', ‘

Rue 89 Rue89 is a French news website started by former journalists from the newspaper ''Libération''. It was officially launched on 6 May 2007, on the day of the second round of the French presidential election. Its news editor is Pascal Riché, for ...

', 12 June 2014'' Flandrensis claims five islands off the coasts of

West Antarctica West Antarctica, or Lesser Antarctica, one of the two major regions of Antarctica, is the part of that continent that lies within the Western Hemisphere, and includes the Antarctic Peninsula. It is separated from East Antarctica by the Transan ...

Siple Island Siple Island ( ) is a long snow-covered island lying east of Wrigley Gulf along the Getz Ice Shelf off Bakutis Coast of Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. Its centre is located at . Its area is and it is dominated by the dormant shield volcano ...

, Cherry Island,

Maher Island Maher Island is a small horseshoe-shaped island lying north of the north-western end of Siple Island, off the coast of Marie Byrd Land, Antarctica. It is one of the three pieces of land closest to the Oceanic Pole of Inaccessibility, also known ...

Pranke Island Pranke Island is a small ice-covered island lying close to Siple Island in the west extremity of Russell Bay, off the coast of Marie Byrd Land. Mapped by United States Geological Survey (USGS) from ground surveys and U.S. Navy air photos, 1959� ...

, and

Carney Island Carney Island () is an ice-covered island, long with all but its north coast lying within the Getz Ice Shelf, Antarctica. It is located between Siple Island and Wright Island along the coast of Marie Byrd Land. Name Carney Island was fi ...

Non profit organization

On August 12, 2021, Flandrensis was registered in the

Belgian Official Journal The Belgian official journal (, , ) is the official journal or gazette of the Belgium, Kingdom of Belgium. It is where the official publication of laws, royal decrees, decrees, ordinances, and official notices are published. The publication is h ...

as “vzw Groothertogdom Flandrensis”. In the published bylaws Flandrensis describes itself as an environmental non-profit organization that focuses on climate change and Antarctica, using the concept of micronationalism to draw attention to the climate in a creative way. Some of their projects are climate letters and clean-up actions.BAUDET, M., Voyage dans les micronations, ces pays de fantaisie qui réinventent la démocratie, Le Monde, 16 August 2021 The Grand Duchy of Flandrensis is among 1000+ non-governmental organizations that have received

United Nations Environment Programme The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) is responsible for coordinating responses to environmental issues within the United Nations system. It was established by Maurice Strong, its first director, after the Declaration of the United Nati ...

accreditation.

Gallery

File:Flag of Flandrensis.svg, Flag of Flandrensis File:Grand Duke Flandrensis.jpg, Niels Vermeersch File:Flandrensispolination.JPG, Signing of a treaty between Flandrensis and the Republic of St. Charlie at Polination (2012)

References

External links