The Principality of Seborga ( it, Principato di Seborga) is an unrecognised
micronation
A micronation is a political entity whose members claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by world governments or major international organizations. Micronations are classified se ...
that claims a area located in the northwestern
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
Province of Imperia
The Province of Imperia ( it, Provincia di Imperia, french: Province d'Imperia, Ligurian: ''Provinsa d’Imperia'') is a mountainous and hilly province, in the Liguria region of Italy, situated between France to the north and the west, and the L ...
in
Liguria
Liguria (; lij, Ligûria ; french: Ligurie) is a Regions of Italy, region of north-western Italy; its Capital city, capital is Genoa. Its territory is crossed by the Alps and the Apennine Mountains, Apennines Mountain chain, mountain range and is ...
, near the
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
border, and about from
Monaco
Monaco (; ), officially the Principality of Monaco (french: Principauté de Monaco; Ligurian: ; oc, Principat de Mónegue), is a sovereign city-state and microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Italian region of Lig ...
.
The principality is coextensive with the town of
Seborga
Seborga ( lij, A Seborca) is a small village and self-proclaimed principality in the region of Liguria near the French border. Administratively, it is a ''comune'' of the Italian province of Imperia. The main economic activities are horticulture ...
; assertions of sovereignty were instigated in 1963 by a local campaigner based on unproven claims about territorial settlements made by the
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...
after the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
.
History
![Antica frontiera di seborga](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/de/Antica_frontiera_di_seborga.JPG)
The claim of sovereignty for Seborga was put forward in 1963 by a Seborgan former
flower grower named
Giorgio Carbone
The Principality of Seborga ( it, Principato di Seborga) is an unrecognised micronation that claims a area located in the northwestern Italian Province of Imperia in Liguria, near the French border, and about from Monaco. The principality is ...
. He claimed to have found documents from the
Vatican archives
, seal = Seal of the Vatican Secret Archives.svg
, seal_width = 200
, seal_caption = Former seal of the Vatican Apostolic Archive
, logo =
, formed =
, jurisdiction =
, headquarters = Cortile del Belvedere, Vatican City
, coordinates ...
which, according to Carbone, indicated that Seborga had never been a possession of the
House of Savoy
The House of Savoy ( it, Casa Savoia) was a royal dynasty that was established in 1003 in the historical Savoy region. Through gradual expansion, the family grew in power from ruling a small Alpine county north-west of Italy to absolute rule of ...
and was therefore not legitimately included in the
Kingdom of Italy
The Kingdom of Italy ( it, Regno d'Italia) was a state that existed from 1861, when Victor Emmanuel II of Kingdom of Sardinia, Sardinia was proclamation of the Kingdom of Italy, proclaimed King of Italy, until 1946, when civil discontent led to ...
when it was formed in 1861 during
Italian unification
The unification of Italy ( it, Unità d'Italia ), also known as the ''Risorgimento'' (, ; ), was the 19th-century political and social movement that resulted in the consolidation of different states of the Italian Peninsula into a single ...
. Carbone claimed that Seborga had existed as a
sovereign state of Italy since 954, and that from 1079 it was a principality of the
Holy Roman Empire
The Holy Roman Empire was a Polity, political entity in Western Europe, Western, Central Europe, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its Dissolution of the Holy Roman Empire, dissolution i ...
. Sovereignty claims assert that Seborga was overlooked by the
Congress of Vienna
The Congress of Vienna (, ) of 1814–1815 was a series of international diplomatic meetings to discuss and agree upon a possible new layout of the European political and constitutional order after the downfall of the French Emperor Napoleon B ...
in its redistribution of European territories after the
Napoleonic Wars
The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fren ...
.
Carbone promoted the idea of Seborgan independence as a principality, and in 1963 the town's inhabitants elected him as their putative head of state. Carbone
assumed the style and title ''His Tremendousness (Sua Tremendità)''
Giorgio I, Prince of Seborga
The Principality of Seborga ( it, Principato di Seborga) is an unrecognised micronation that claims a area located in the northwestern Italian Province of Imperia in Liguria, near the French border, and about from Monaco. The principality is ...
.
He formed a "cabinet" of ministers; minted a local currency, the
luigino; introduced a Seborgan flag, a white cross on a blue background; and established a Latin motto, (Sit in the shade).
Carbone's campaign has generally not been taken seriously and is widely viewed as a ruse to attract tourists to the town, although his supporters in the town claim that their small state has been recognised by
Burkina Faso
Burkina Faso (, ; , ff, 𞤄𞤵𞤪𞤳𞤭𞤲𞤢 𞤊𞤢𞤧𞤮, italic=no) is a landlocked country in West Africa with an area of , bordered by Mali to the northwest, Niger to the northeast, Benin to the southeast, Togo and Ghana to the ...
.
Giorgio Carbone retained his ceremonial position until his death on 25 November 2009.
[ The position of the Serborgan "monarch" is not hereditary, and since Carbone's death, elections have been held in Seborga every seven years among the town's 200 registered voters.] Carbone was succeeded by businessman Marcello Menegatto
The Principality of Seborga ( it, Principato di Seborga) is an unrecognised micronation that claims a area located in the northwestern Italian Province of Imperia in Liguria, near the French border, and about from Monaco. The principality is ...
, who was elected on 25 April 2010 and crowned on 22 May 2010 as ''His Serene Highness
His/Her Serene Highness ( abbreviation: HSH, second person address: Your Serene Highness) is a style used today by the reigning families of Liechtenstein, Monaco and Thailand. Over the past 400 years, it has also used as a style for senior members ...
'' (''Sua Altezza Serenissima'' or ''SAS'') Prince Marcello I. Menegatto was re-elected as Prince on 23 April 2017, after an unsuccessful challenge to the position by Mark Dezzani, a British-born radio DJ
A disc jockey, more commonly abbreviated as DJ, is a person who plays recorded music for an audience. Types of DJs include radio DJs (who host programs on music radio stations), club DJs (who work at a nightclub or music festival), mobile D ...
who had lived in Seborga for nearly 40 years.
On 12 April 2019, Menegatto abdicated from his position, and he was succeeded by his ex-wife, Nina Menegatto
Princess Nina Daniela Menegatto (born Nina Daniela Döbler, 6 November 1978) is a German businesswoman who currently reigns as the head of state of the Principality of Seborga, a micronation encompassing the Italian city of Seborga, from 10 Nov ...
, who was elected by the town as ''Her Serene Highness'' Princess Nina on 10 November 2019.
Pretender
A pretender is someone who claims to be the rightful ruler of a country although not recognized as such by the current government. The term is often used to suggest that a claim is not legitimate.Curley Jr., Walter J. P. ''Monarchs-in-Waiting'' ...
s to the "throne" of Seborga have included the self-styled "Princess" Yasmine von Hohenstaufen Anjou Plantagenet, and Nicolas Mutte, a French writer.
Seborga today
Seborga's independence claims continue today, and an official ''Principato di Seborga'' website asserts the historical arguments put forward by Carbone. Seborga claims to maintain a volunteer border guard, the ''Corpo delle Guardie''. Participants wear a blue-and-white uniform and during the tourist season they stand guard at sentry box
A sentry box is a small shelter with an open front in which a sentry or person on guard duty may stand to be sheltered from the weather. Many boxes are decorated in national colours.
Compare:
In literature
The sentry box at the entrance to Buck ...
es on the unofficial border crossing on the main road into Seborga.
The unrecognised micronation
A micronation is a political entity whose members claim that they belong to an independent nation or sovereign state, but which lacks legal recognition by world governments or major international organizations. Micronations are classified se ...
that claims Seborga Town understands that the town still falls directly within the laws and borders of Italy
Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...
.
Currency
Seborga's local currency
In economics, a local currency is a currency that can be spent in a particular geographical locality at participating organisations. A regional currency is a form of local currency encompassing a larger geographical area, while a community curren ...
, the Seborga luigino, is divided into 100 centesimos. Luigini coins circulate in Seborga alongside the Euro
The euro ( symbol: €; code: EUR) is the official currency of 19 out of the member states of the European Union (EU). This group of states is known as the eurozone or, officially, the euro area, and includes about 340 million citizens . ...
, but no banknotes have been issued. The currency has no value outside of the town. The value
Value or values may refer to:
Ethics and social
* Value (ethics) wherein said concept may be construed as treating actions themselves as abstract objects, associating value to them
** Values (Western philosophy) expands the notion of value beyo ...
of the luigino is pegged to the US dollar
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
at SPL1= USD6.00.
Population
As of 1 January 2018, Seborga had a population of 297 people, with 146 males and 151 females.
Flags
File:Flag of the Principality of Seborga (12th century-1729).svg, 12th century – 1729
File:Flag of the Principality of Seborga (1995-1997).svg, 1995–1997
File:Flag of the Principality of Seborga (variant).svg, 1997–present
Notes
Bibliography
*
External links
*
*
*
''La Gazzetta di Seborga''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seborga, Principality Of
Geography of Liguria
Principalities
Secessionist towns and cities
Micronations in Italy
Seborga
Self-proclaimed monarchy