Esperanto

Esperanto as a national language: the Italian army invaded a rebellious foreign power

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Today it is Esperanto Day. For that occasion, we investigate truth and reality of one of the states that had Esperanto as a national language. Now a major film.

In 1968, the world was in uproar. Demonstrations by young people against the establishment in major cities in Europe, North and South America. That year, an Italian engineer in his 40s, has succeed in building an island, somewhat like a drilling platform, outside of the territorial waters of Italy. Giorgio Rosa was his name. His micronation, covering 400 square meters, had a bar, a post office, a restaurant. Tourists arrived by boat, mainly from the harbor of Rimini in Italy, a 20-minute sailing tour. The builders of the island declared independence, … ↪

Micronations and their national languages

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Ladonia

What is a micronation? Maybe some people think of small countries like San Marino or Andorra. No, those are too big. A micronation can be as small as 186 square meters, as the Barony of Caux, surrounded by the city of Toronto, Canada. Or even smaller. One of them is even mobile.

There are several dozens of micronations. In the tourist guide “Micronations. The Lonely Planet Guide to Home-Made Nations” many of them are dealt with, including just as many shortlived ones. The cover contains a warning: REAL PEOPLE. REAL PLACES. 100% TRUE. The copy in my possession is from 2006. It has not been updated or reprinted since. Below you can find links to uptodate information about most of … ↪

A language without a nation

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400px PS mapo 2015

”Now that I am dating an Italian, I will have to start learning Italian”… “I am going to Portugal during my summer vacation, can I borrow your dictionary?” … In Europe we are used to countries having each their language – Denmark has Danish, Sweden has Swedish, Germany has German and so on. But this is a truth with modifications. First of all, countries can contain more than one language, either minority languages such as German in Southern Jutland and Danish in the Flensburg area, or like entire language areas such as Greenlandic and Faroese in Denmark or Sorbian in Germany. Not to mention countries like India or China, which each contain hundreds of languages. Second, several countries can “share” … ↪