Republic of Rose Island
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| Republic of Rose Island eo: Respubliko de la Insulo de la Rozoj it: Repubblica della Isola delle Rose |
|
| Micronation | |
 Flag |
 |
| Area claimed | 0.0004 km² |
|---|---|
| Date of foundation | 1968 June 24 |
| Leadership | President Giorgio Rosa |
| Purported organisational structure | Republic |
| Language | Esperanto |
| Purported currency | Mill (Esperanto: "milo", used in stamps, no coins or notes are known to have been printed) |
| Location: in the Adriatic Sea near Rimini, Italy | |
The Republic of Rose Island (Esperanto: Respubliko de la Insulo de la Rozoj) was a short-lived micronation on a human-made platform in the Adriatic Sea, 11 km (7 mi) off the coast of Rimini, Italy.
In 1967, Italian engineer Giorgio Rosa funded the construction of a 400 square metre platform supported by nine pylons, and furnished it with a number of commercial establishments, including a restaurant, bar, nightclub, souvenir shop and a post office. Some reports also mention the presence of a radio station, but this remains unconfirmed.
The artificial island declared independence on 24 June 1968, under the Esperanto name "Insulo de la Rozoj", with Rosa as self-declared President. Both Esperanto rozo (plural rozoj) and Italian rosa mean "rose". Soon afterwards Rose Island issued a number of stamps, including a stamp showing the location of Rose Island in the Adriatic Sea. The purported currency of the republic was the "Mill" and this appeared on the early stamp issues, although no coins or banknotes are known to have been produced. This denomination was translated into Esperanto as "Miloj" on later stamp issues (it is unrelated to the Esperantist currency spesmilo).
Rosa's actions were viewed by the Italian government as a ploy to raise money from tourists while avoiding national taxation. Whether or not this was the real reason behind Rosa's micronation, the Italian government's response was swift and heavy-handed: a group of four carabinieri and tax inspectors landed on the "Isola delle Rose" and assumed control. The platform's Council of Government is said to have sent a telegram, presumably to the Italian government, to protest the "violation of its sovereignty and the injury inflicted on local tourism by the military occupation", but this was ignored.
Soon afterwards the Italian Navy used explosives to destroy the facility - an act later portrayed on postage stamps issued by Rosa's "Government in exile".
[edit] See also
- Sealand - a declared monarchy near the United Kingdom that is built on a platform similar to Rose Island.
- Republic of Minerva - a short-lived artificial island micronation in the Pacific Ocean.
- REM Island, a platform towed into international waters for the purposes of offshore radio broadcasting.
[edit] References
- Rose Island - A Dream of Freedom by Fabio Vaccarezza, The Cinderella Philatelist, January 2007, ISSN 0009-6911, pp 42-46
- How to Start Your Own Country by Erwin S. Strauss, pub. Breakout Productions, Port Townsend, WA, 2nd ed. 1984, ISBN 1-893626-15-6, pp 129-130.
- "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, pp 105-06.
- Italian language website discussing the history of Rose Island and its postage stamps. Includes a scan of part of a contemporary newspaper article.
- Some pictures of Rose Island (including pictures of its destruction) and comments from the daughter of one of the people responsible for the destruction (Italian language)
