Rose Island

From MicroWiki

This page uses content from Wikipedia. The original article was at Rose Island. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with MicroWiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.

The Republic of Rose Island (Esperanto: Respubliko de la Insulo de la Rozoj) was a short-lived micronation located on a man-made platform in the Adriatic Sea, seven miles 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 June 24, 1968, under the Esperanto name "Insulo de la Rozoj", with Rosa as self-declared President. 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.

Rosa's actions were viewed by the Italian government as a ploy to collect tourist dollars without paying state taxes. Whether or not this was the real reason behind Rosa's micronation is unknown, but nevertheless 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".

See also

• Sealand - a declared monarchy near the United Kingdom that is built on a similar platform to Rose Island's.
• Republic of Minerva - a short-lived artificial island micronation in the Pacific Ocean.

References

1. How to Start Your Own Country by Erwin S. Strauss, pub. Breakout Productions, Port Townsend, WA, 2nd ed. 1984, ISBN 1893626156, pp 129-130
2. Italian language website discussing the history of Rose Island and its postage stamps. Includes a scan of part of a contemporary newspaper article.