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Principality of Seborga

Coordinates: 43°50′N 7°42′E / 43.833°N 7.700°E / 43.833; 7.700
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This article is about the micronation in Italy. For the town, see Seborga.
Principality of Seborga
Principato di Seborga (Italian)
Prinçipatu de A Seborca (Ligurian)
Micronation (unrecognized entity)
Map the Italian Comune of Seborga and the Principality of Seborga marked in red within Europe
Map the Italian Comune of Seborga and the Principality of Seborga marked in red within Europe
Area claimed14 km2 (5.4 sq mi)
43°50′N 7°42′E / 43.833°N 7.700°E / 43.833; 7.700
Claimed by
Dates claimed1963–present
Website
www.principatodiseborga.com

The Principality of Seborga (Italian: Principato di Seborga, Ligurian: Prinçipatu de A Seborca) is an unrecognised micronation that claims a 14 km2 (5.4 sq mi; 3,500-acre) area located in the northwestern Italian Province of Imperia in Liguria, near the French border, and about 35 kilometres (20 mi) from Monaco.[1] The principality is coextensive with the comune of Seborga; assertions of sovereignty were instigated in 1963 by a local campaigner based on unproven claims about territorial settlements made by the Congress of Vienna after the Napoleonic Wars.

History

[edit]
The "frontier" post on the road approaching Seborga

The claim of sovereignty for Seborga was put forward in 1963 by a Seborgan former flower grower named Giorgio Carbone. He claimed to have found documents from the Vatican archives which, according to Carbone, indicated that Seborga had never been a possession of the House of Savoy and was therefore not legitimately included in the Kingdom of Italy when it was formed in 1861 during Italian unification. Carbone claimed that Seborga had existed as a sovereign state of Italy since 954, and that from 1079 it was a principality of the Holy Roman Empire. Sovereignty claims assert that Seborga was overlooked by the Congress of Vienna in its redistribution of European territories after the Napoleonic Wars.[1][2]

Carbone promoted the idea of Seborgan independence as a principality, and in 1963 the town's inhabitants elected him as their putative head of state. Carbone assumed the style and title His Tremendousness (Sua Tremendità) Giorgio I, Prince of Seborga.[1][3] He formed a "cabinet" of ministers; minted a local currency, the luigino; introduced a Seborgan flag, a white cross on a blue background; and established a Latin motto, Sub Umbra Sede (Sit in the shade). Carbone's campaign has generally not been taken seriously and is widely viewed as a ruse to attract tourists to the town, although his supporters in the town claim that their small state has been recognised by Burkina Faso.[1][4]

In January 2006, Carbone announced that he would abdicate on reaching the age of 70, apparently as a result of a row over rebuilding the village centre, but he didn't and continued to hold the office until his death.[5] Even so, this decision was the subject of a feature on the BBC World Service radio programme World Today on 25 January 2006.[6]

Giorgio Carbone retained his ceremonial position until his death on 25 November 2009 (age 73), due to complications due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.[1] The position of the Serborgan "monarch" is not hereditary, and since Carbone's death, elections have been held in Seborga every seven years among the town's 200 registered voters.[7] Carbone was succeeded by businessman Marcello Menegatto, who was elected on 25 April 2010 and crowned on 22 May 2010 as His Serene Highness (Sua Altezza Serenissima or SAS) Prince Marcello I.[8][9][10] Menegatto was re-elected as Prince on 23 April 2017, after an unsuccessful challenge to the position by Mark Dezzani, a British-born radio DJ who had lived in Seborga for nearly 40 years.[7]

On 12 April 2019, Menegatto abdicated from his position,[11] and he was succeeded by his ex-wife, Nina Menegatto, who was elected by the town as Her Serene Highness Princess Nina on 10 November 2019.[12]

List of Seborgan monarchs

[edit]
Title Given name Reign began Reign ended
Prince Giorgio I Giorgio Carbone 14 May 1963 25 November 2009
Prince Marcello I Marcello Menegatto 25 April 2010[9][13] 10 November 2019
Princess Nina Nina Menegatto 10 November 2019[12] incumbent

False titles

[edit]
See also: False titles of nobility and Pretender

There have been pretenders to the Seborgan throne, which include such pretenders as the self-styled "Princess" Yasmine von Hohenstaufen Anjou Plantagenet,[14][3] and Nicolas Mutte, a French writer.[15]

Yasmine von Hohenstaufen wrote to Italy's president and offered to return the principality to the state on June 13, 2006.[16]

Seborga today

[edit]

Seborga's independence claims continue today, and an official Principato di Seborga website asserts the historical arguments put forward by Carbone.[17] Seborga claims to maintain a volunteer border guard, the Corpo delle Guardie. Participants wear a blue-and-white uniform and during the tourist season they stand guard at sentry boxes on the unofficial border crossing on the main road into Seborga.[7][18]

The unrecognised micronation that claims Seborga Town understands that the town still falls directly within the laws and borders of Italy.[19]

Currency

[edit]
A 15 centesimi Seborga luigino coin

Seborga's local currency, the Seborga luigino, is divided into 100 cents. Luigini coins circulate in Seborga alongside the euro. The currency has no value outside of the town. The value of the luigino is pegged to the US dollar at SPL 1 = USD 6.00.[20] On 20 August 2023 the Principality presented the first banknote ever of the luigini.[21]

Population

[edit]

As of 1 January 2018, Seborga had a population of 297 people, with 146 males and 151 females.[22] As of 2021, the population of Seborga has gone down to 217 people.

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ a b c d e "Obituary: His Tremendousness Giorgio Carbone". The Telegraph. 27 November 2009. Archived from the original on 1 December 2009. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  2. ^ Klieger, P. Christiaan (29 November 2012). The Microstates of Europe: Designer Nations in a Post-Modern World. Lexington Books. p. 177. ISBN 978-0-7391-7427-2. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  3. ^ a b "Prince of Seborga fights on for 362 subjects | Liguria | ITALY Magazine". The Telegraph. 15 June 2006. Archived from the original on 19 November 2010. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  4. ^ Anneli Rufus (11 September 2014). "Seborga: The Micronation Inside Italy Where Time Stands Still". HuffPost. Retrieved 5 May 2018.
  5. ^ "Wanted: prince to rule village", Richard Owen, The Times, 24 January 2006
  6. ^ "The best of the World Today", BBC, 16 January 2006
  7. ^ a b c Squires, Nick (18 March 2017). "Radio DJ from West Sussex vies to become next leader of tiny self-declared principality in Italy". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 November 2020. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  8. ^ Seborga Times, Article "Seborga will crown his new elected Prince: Menegatto I"
  9. ^ a b Squires, Nick (27 April 2010). "Tiny Italian principality announces new monarch called 'His Tremendousness'". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
  10. ^ "S.A.S. il Principe di Seborga". Principato di Seborga (in Italian). Archived from the original on 28 September 2019. Retrieved 28 September 2019.
  11. ^ Letter of resignation Archived 2019-09-28 at the Wayback Machine on principatodiseborga.com
  12. ^ a b Vogt, Andrea (10 November 2019). "'Her Tremendousness' elected leader of self-declared micro-nation on hilltop in Italy". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 11 November 2019.
  13. ^ "The King of Nylon: 'kingdom' of Seborga ruled by hosiery heir". The Metro. London. 28 April 2010. Archived from the original on 16 November 2012. Retrieved 18 June 2010.
  14. ^ Moore, Malcolm (13 June 2006). "Battle rages for His Tremendousness's throne | Italy | Europe | International News | News | Telegraph". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 March 2007. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  15. ^ Squires, Nick (22 June 2016). "Ruler of self-declared principality on the Italian Riviera faces 'coup d'etat' from rival". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 22 June 2016. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  16. ^ Moore, Malcolm (13 June 2006). "Battle rages for His Tremendousness's throne | Italy | Europe | International News | News | Telegraph". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 11 March 2007. Retrieved 16 October 2024.
  17. ^ "Why we are independent". Principality of Seborga.
  18. ^ "Le Guardie". Principato di Seborga (in Italian). Archived from the original on 9 January 2021. Retrieved 17 January 2021.
  19. ^ Jacopo Prisco. "Seborga: The Italian village that wants to be a country". CNN. Retrieved 2022-03-29.
  20. ^ "The luigini". Principality of Seborga.
  21. ^ "Festa di San Bernardo 2023 / Resoconto della giornata, rassegna stampa, foto, video – Presentata la prima banconota della storia del Principato di Seborga". Principality of Seborga.
  22. ^ "Statistiche demografiche ISTAT". demo.istat.it. Imperia. Archived from the original on 2019-06-30. Retrieved 2019-03-21.

Bibliography

[edit]
  • Caïs de Pierlas, Eugène (1884). I Conti di Ventimiglia, il priorato di San Michele ed il principato di Seborga. Turin: G. B. Paravia.
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to Principality of Seborga.
Wikivoyage has a travel guide for Seborga.
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