MicroWiki
Screenshot
The main page of MicroWiki, retrieved 8 May 2023.
Type of site
Online encyclopedia
Available in14 languages
OwnersJonathan Austen
Karl Friedrich
Created byFabian Schneider
URLmicronations.wiki
CommercialNo
RegistrationRequired for editing
Users47,000+
Launched27 May 2005
Current statusActive
Content license
CC Attribution / Share-Alike 4.0

MicroWiki is a free online encyclopedia about micronations launched in 2005.[1] It has since become the principal way in which Internet users document micronational matters, as most do not meet Wikipedia's notability requirements.[2] It is maintained by volunteers using the same MediaWiki software as Wikipedia.[3] MicroWiki describes itself as "the largest encyclopedia about micronations".[4][5][6]

As of August 2023, there are over 210,000 pages on MicroWiki.[7] Polish author Maciej Grzenkowicz described MicroWiki as "Wikipedia devoted to micronations",[8] and The Independent remarked that the encyclopedia was a thorough resource, with several articles on micronations that were longer than those of real-world nations on Wikipedia.[2]

MicroWiki uses the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike license for its content.[9] Articles can cover an individual person, micronation, government departments or other micronation related topics. The site has message forums on micronation-related discussions on the messaging application Discord.[citation needed]

Hayward and Khamis claimed in an academic journal for Shima that many of the micronations featured on the wiki were, in fact virtual entities which existed almost solely as listings on the encyclopedia. They claimed that some users treated the website as a 'fantasy gaming service,' where 'players' could interact with other 'virtual micronations' while noting that this is not the purpose of MicroWiki advocated by its administration.[4][10] In the Cambridge University Press book Micronations and the Search for Sovereignty, MicroWiki is mentioned several times as an online community for online micronations.[11]

References

  1. ^ Andel, Irina Ulrike (2010). Micronations: Konstituierte Staaten in konstruierten Welten. Zur historischen Entwicklung von Mikronationen und ihren gegenwärtigen Ausprägungen [Micronations: Constituted States in Constructed Worlds. On the historical development of micronations and their current manifestations] (Master of Philosophy thesis) (in German). University of Vienna. p. 10. Retrieved 3 October 2023.
  2. ^ a b Simon, Usborne (13 April 2015). "MicroCon 2015: Dictators of the world unite at world summit of micronations - countries too small to count". The Independent. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  3. ^ "Sites using MediaWiki/en". MediaWiki. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  4. ^ a b Hayward, Philip; Khamis, Susie (2015). "Fleeting and Partial Autonomy: A historical account of quasi-micronational initiatives on Lundy Island and their contemporary reconfiguration on MicroWiki" (PDF). Shima: The International Journal of Research into Island Cultures. 9: 78. ISSN 1834-6057. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  5. ^ Esteban, Cristina Fernández (2020-09-08). "11 micronaciones absurdas en las que puedes solicitar ciudadanía o incluso tener un título nobiliario". Business Insider España (in Spanish). Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  6. ^ B, Alvaro Lopez (2017-02-09). "Micronaciones: ¿cómo son y cuál es su historia?". El Definido. Retrieved 2022-03-15.
  7. ^ "Statistics - MicroWiki".
  8. ^ Grzenkowicz, Maciej (2021). Tycipaństwa. Księżniczki, bitcoiny i kraje wymyślone (in Polish). Wydawnictwo Poznańskie. ISBN 9788366839144 – via Onet.pl.
  9. ^ "MicroWiki:Copyrights". Retrieved 11 May 2021.
  10. ^ Hayward, Philip (2018). "Secessionism, submergence and Siteresponsive art: The Embassy of the Commonwealth of New Bayswater at the 1st Fremantle Biennale" (PDF). Shima: The International Journal of Research into Island Cultures. 12: 163–168. doi:10.21463/shima.12.1.14. ISSN 1834-6057. S2CID 195031869. Retrieved 15 April 2021.
  11. ^ Hobbs, Harry; Williams, George (2022). Micronations and the Search for Sovereignty. Cambridge Studies in Constitutional Law. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-009-15012-5.

External links

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