A micronation is a political entity that claims to be a sovereign state but is not recognised as such by the wider international community. Micronations are treated as distinct from conventional unrecognised states, although there is no widespread consensus within micropatriology over what exactly constitutes a micronation or distinguishes it from other unrecognised states. Broadly speaking, micronations are created and developed as a hobby, with their claims to sovereignty considered trivial enough to be ignored by the conventional sovereign states whose territory they claim; micronations whose ultimate goal is to receive international recognition as sovereign states are termed secessionist, and micronations without this goal are termed simulationist.

Micronations have existed since the 19th century, with the practice of micronationalism growing immensely in the early 21st century as the creation and maintenance of micronations became a relatively mainstream hobby and the Internet facilitated the emergence of an online micronational community. Some well-known micronations, including Sealand and Liberland, exist outside this online community; others, including Austenasia, and Molossia, regularly attend micronational events and have a developed online presence. The majority of English-speaking micronations are part of the MicroWiki sector, which has existed since 2005, and have not achieved widespread notoriety.

Most soruces define micronations as, broadly, self-declared countries not recognised by other states or international organisations like the United Nations. Wikipedia and WorldAtlas.com both define a micronation as an "entity that claims to be an independent nation or state but is not recognized by world governments or major international organizations". On its main page, MicroWiki defines micronations as "small and often rather eccentric nations that are unrecognised by the wider international community" and in its article Micronation defines a micronation as a "political entity that claims to be a sovereign state but is not recognised as such by the wider international community".

Interactive geofiction is a hobby centred around the creation of model countries claiming territory on fictional planets. Most interactive geofictionalists consider their activities to be a form of micronationalism, although the present consensus among mainstream micronationalists is that geofiction is not micronationalism. Many interactive geofictionalists part of the Micras Sector have at various points been on the periphery of the MicroWiki community from its foundation in 2005, with the Organisation of Active Micronations spearheading increased links between the communities in 2011; since the second rise of the Grand Unified Micronational in 2012, however, the distinction between micronationalism and geofiction has been more sharply drawn within MicroWiki.

MicrasWiki (the Micras Sector's equivalent to MicroWiki), for example, claims on its main page to be "home to micronationalism". The homepage goes on to define "micronationalism" as a synonym for interactive geofiction. The word 'micronational' is frequently used in the name of organisations in the Micras Sector, with examples including the Micronational Cartography Society (the main governing body of Micras), the First Micronational Bank, and the Royal Institute of Micronational Antiquities. Almost all of the 'nations' claiming territory on Micras self-identify as micronations, and many older nations have articles on MicroWiki dating from the pre-2012 era of closeness between the communities.

In attempting to resolve this contention over whether or not interactive geofiction is micronationalism, some individuals in the Micras Sector have written micropatriological works that classify Micras-based nations as simulationist micronations, whilst arguing that definitions of micronations that exclude geofictional micronations are profoundly secessionist in nature. James Richter, secretary of the Micronational Cartography Society from 200507, expressed an early form of this argument in Micronational Theory (September 2006). This essay explains that micronationalism originated out of 'secessionist micronations', who claimed real territory, but that it evolved as 'simulationist micronations' arrived.

After explaining how online micronations are a logical evolution in human communication, Richter then calls Babkha "the first simulationist nation", saying "It created its entire history, and created an entire world for itself. the Seccesionists who were rapidly becomming old and were beggining to vanish from the Micronational scene were outraged by this turn of events. since at that time it was socially unacceptable to make up your own history and exist within the confines of the internet alone". He concludes that "after several years simulationism became larger then seccesionism", and claims that the latter no longer represents the mainstream of micronationalism.

Parallel plane theory is a micropatriological position which holds that micronational sovereignty over a people or territory does not preclude macronational sovereignty from extending there simultaneously, and that micronations should not try to become macronations. The theory was first put forward by Jordan Brizendine in August 2017, who successfully proposed motions in Delvera and at the Congress of Colo (a conference of delegates from Delvera, the North American Confederation and Karnia-Ruthenia) which stated that "micronations and macronations exist on separate, parallel planes whereby their duties and responsibilities do not overlap." The theory was developed further in early 2018 by Ives Blackwood and Glastieven T in the context of New Secessionism, with the two arguing that groups of friends held a position on the micronational plane which corresponded to that held by proto-nations on the macronational plane, though Blackwood later repudiated parallel plane theory.

There has been a small but growing amount of attention paid to the micronation phenomenon in recent years. Most interest in academic circles has been concerned with studying the apparently anomalous legal situations affecting such entities as Sealand and the Hutt River Province, in exploring how some micronations represent grassroots political ideas, and in the creation of role-playing entities for instructional purposes.

In 2000, Professor Fabrice O'Driscoll, of the Aix-Marseille University, published a book about micronations: Ils ne sigent pas l'ONU ("They are not in the United Nations"), with more than 300 pages dedicated to the subject.

Several recent publications have dealt with the subject of particular historic micronations, including Republic of Indian Stream (University Press), by Dartmouth College geographer Daniel Doan, The Land that Never Was, about Gregor MacGregor, and the Principality of Poyais, by David Sinclair (ISBN 0-7553-1080-2).

In May 2000, an article in the New York Times entitled "Utopian Rulers, and Spoofs, Stake Out Territory Online" brought the phenomenon to a wider audience for the first time. Similar articles were published by newspapers such as the French Liberation, the Italian La Repubblica, the Greek "Ta Nea", by O Estado de So Paulo in Brazil, and Portugal's Viso at around the same time.

The Democratic Empire of Sunda, which claims to be the Government of the Kingdom of Sunda (an ancient kingdom, in present-day Indonesia) in exile in Switzerland, made media headlines when two so-called princesses, Lamia Roro Wiranatadikusumah Siliwangi Al Misri, 21, and Fathia Reza Wiranatadikusumah Siliwangi Al Misiri, 23, were detained by Malaysian authorities at the border with Brunei, on 13 July 2007, and are charged for entering the country without a valid pass.

In August 2003 a Summit of Micronations took place in Helsinki at Finlandia Hall, the site of the Conference for Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE). The summit was attended by delegations such as the Principality of Sealand, Neue Slowenische Kunst|NSK, Ladonia, the Transnational Republic, and by scholars from various academic institutions.

From 7 November through 17 December 2004, the Reg Vardy Gallery at the University of Sunderland hosted an exhibition on the subject of micronational group identity and symbolism. The exhibition focused on numismatic, philatelic and vexillological artefacts, as well as other symbols and instruments created and used by a number of micronations from the 1950s through to the present day. A summit of micronations conducted as part of this exhibition was attended by representatives of Sealand, Elgaland-Vargaland, New Utopia, Atlantium, Frestonia and Fusa. The exhibition was reprised at the Andrew Kreps Gallery in New York City from 24 June29 July of the following year. Another exhibition about micronations opened at Paris' Palais de Tokyo in early 2007.

The Sunderland summit was later featured in a 5-part BBC light entertainment television series called "How to Start Your Own Country" presented by Danny Wallace. The series told the story of Wallace's experience of founding a micronation, Lovely, located in his London flat. It screened in the UK in August 2005. Similar programs have also aired on television networks in other parts of Europe.

On 9 September 2006, The Guardian newspaper reported that the travel guide company Lonely Planet had published the world's first travel guide devoted to micronations, the Lonely Planet Guide to Home-Made Nations (ISBN 1741047307).

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