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The term micronation has come to be used in recent years to describe entities that bear a resemblance to independent nations, but which in reality are mostly fantasy constructs, role-playing games, political simulations, or in rare cases aspirant states. Most have a brief, ephemeral existence and consist of a population of a handful of (mostly male adolescent) individuals and a website. For an example of a fantasy micronation, see http://www.talossa.net/, which is a long-running internet-based conservative political discussion group.

Less easy to dismiss are micronations that maintain actual claims to territory, and some of these have been operating successfully for decades. Examples include Hutt River Province (a farm in Western Australia which claims to have seceded from Australia and to be an independent principality) with a population of tens of thousands, and Sealand (a WWII-era antiaircraft platform built in the English channel, beyond Britain's nautical limit) and currently leased as a secure web-hosting facility.

It may sometimes be difficult to distinguish between micronations and imaginary countries. Examples of micronations include:

• Sealand
• Hutt River Province