Travis McHenry is an American-born

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 ...

alist and businessman, the founder and creator of two

s, Westarctica and Calsahara, neither of which has been recognized by any world government. In 2001, while a seaman in the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, McHenry founded the micronation of Westarctica. In 2004, he appointed himself ruler of the Grand Duchy of Westarctica, which was located in the Marie Byrd Land region 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, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

. He has said that this took advantage of an apparent loophole in the Antarctic Treaty System. In 2006, after learning that McHenry had been communicating with foreign governments asking them to recognize the nation, the Navy required him to abdicate. , Westarctica claims a population of 2,356 citizens (none of whom actually live there), and McHenry still calls himself its Grand Duke. In 2009, after McHenry left the military, he acquired a few acres of rural desert land in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban a ...

from his family, and founded Calsahara. McHenry later expanded it to cover 117 acres. A 2015 profile in ''

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

'' magazine described the project as good-natured, but said, "It's hard to discern whether Calsahara is a serious endeavor or an absurdly long-term joke." In October 2017, McHenry's two micronations were linked when Calsahara was 'annexed' by Westarctica becoming a 'colony' of the Westarctican territory. Sometime before 2011, McHenry changed the name of Westarctica from "Grand Duchy of Westarctica" to "Protectorate of Westarctica." In 2014, McHenry made Westarctica into a non-profit organization that advocates for protection of Antarctic wildlife and for the study of climate change.

Trivia

*The Micronational Hall of Excellence is an institution created with the goal of preserving history and recognizing the contributions of significant individuals in the field of micronationalism. McHenry was one of the eight individuals who received the Norton Award and was inducted during

MicroCon Microcon was an annual science fiction and fantasy convention, held annually at the University of Exeter in Exeter, Devon, England since 1982, usually over the first weekend in March. It is organised by the Exeter University Science Fiction and ...

2022 in Las Vegas. Other nominees were Emperor Norton, Paddy Roy Bates, Kevin Baugh, Niels Vermeersch,

Lars Vilks Lars Endel Roger Vilks (20 June 1946 – 3 October 2021) was a Swedish visual artist and activist who was known for the controversy surrounding his drawings of Muhammad. He also created the sculptures ''Nimis'' and ''Arx'', made of driftwood an ...

Leonard Casley Leonard George Casley (28 August 1925 – 13 February 2019), better known as Prince Leonard, was the founder of the self-proclaimed micronation, the Principality of Hutt River, within the Australian state of Western Australia. He governed Hutt R ...

and Gabrielle Pourchet.

References

External links

Westarctica websiteGrand Duchy of Westarctica
at the Micronations Wiki
MicroWiki biography
1980 births Living people Micronational leaders United States Navy sailors Place of birth missing (living people) Self-proclaimed monarchy {{US-bio-stub