Zaqistan, officially the Republic of Zaqistan, 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 ...
in
Box Elder County
Box Elder County is a county at the northwestern corner of Utah, United States. At the 2020 United States census, the population was 57,666, up from the 2010 figure of 49,975. Its county seat and largest city is Brigham City. The county was n ...
,
Utah
Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...
, created in 2005 by self-declared president Zaq Landsberg.
The land has no residents or buildings on it, although Landsberg and volunteers have installed monuments and a
border patrol gate, and he refers to the money sent yearly to the
State of Utah
Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northeast, Idaho to th ...
for the property not as taxes but instead a "
tribute
A tribute (; from Latin ''tributum'', "contribution") is wealth, often in kind, that a party gives to another as a sign of submission, allegiance or respect. Various ancient states exacted tribute from the rulers of lands which the state con ...
" which he pays to maintain peaceful
foreign relations
Foreign policy, also known as external policy, is the set of strategies and actions a State (polity), state employs in its interactions with other states, unions, and international entities. It encompasses a wide range of objectives, includ ...
.
Its state department does not accept applications for citizenship, though previously it was granted for free to anyone who asked, with the option of a passport for a suggested fee of
US$
The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...
50.
Landsberg, a sculptor who lives in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
, won the land in an
eBay
eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...
auction for the minimum bid of $610 in July 2005.
Its size has been variously described as
and 4 acres.
The nearest town is
Montello, Nevada
Montello is a small desert village in Elko County, Nevada, Elko County, Nevada, United States. It is home to Montello Elementary School, which is part of the Elko County School District. The population of Montello was 50 as of the 2018 American C ...
, about away.
See also
*
List of micronations
Micronations, sometimes also referred to as ''model countries'' and ''new country projects'', are small, self-proclaimed entities that assert their sovereignty as independent states but which are not acknowledged as such by any of the recognise ...
References
Further reading
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External links
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*, upload by
KSL-TV
KSL-TV (channel 5) is a television station in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States, affiliated with NBC. It is the flagship television property of locally based Bonneville International, the for-profit broadcasting arm of the Church of Jesus C ...
, September 2016, with exhibit at Central Utah Art Center
{{Micronations
Micronations in the United States
Box Elder County, Utah