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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. Characteristically these micronations have a defined (if very small) geographic territory which will usually not recognized by the larger country that contains them. Many base their legitimacy on historical anomalies or eccentric interpretations of laws. Most have an ephemeral existence but at least one, Seborga, traces its right to nationhood for a millenium. Their population is often only a handful of individuals. Many have established a website to promote their legitimacy.

For an example of an internet based micronation see the Principality of Lavalon, http://www.lavalon.tk, Lavalon is a micronation based on the ideals of Participation, Social Justice, Environmentalism and Liberation. Lavalon is well know for its policy of welcoming all new citizens, legalized euthanasia and legalized cannabis. For an example of a fantasy micronation, see http://www.talossa.net/, which is basically a long-running internet-based conservative political discussion group.

Less easy to dismiss as frivolous 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 an alleged worldwide population measured in the 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). Others such as New Utopia have overtly libertarian political leanings and plans to construct artificial island territories, and yet others such as Atlantium claim to be redefining existing paradigms through the application of such notions as "non-territorial sovereignty" and are motivated by a range progressive socio-political reform agendas.

It may sometimes be difficult to distinguish between micronations and imaginary countries.

Examples of micronations include:

• Principality of Lavalon http://www.lavalon.tk
• Principality of Sealand http://www.fruitsofthesea.demon.co.uk/sealand/
• Hutt River Province Principality http://home.vicnet.net.au/~huttrivr/
• Empire of Atlantium http://www.atlantium.org/