Republic of Rose Island

The Republic of Rose Island (Esperanto: Respubliko de la Insulo de la Rozoj; Italian: Repubblica dell'Isola delle Rose) was a short-lived micronation on a man-made platform in the Adriatic Sea, 11 kilometres (6.8 mi) off the coast of the province of Rimini, Italy.

Republic of Rose Island

  • Respubliko de la Insulo de la Rozoj
    •
  • Repubblica dell'Isola delle Rose
Micronation
Flag
Coat of Arms
Anthem: Steuermaan! Laß die Wacht!
StatusDefunct (area taken by Italy)
LocationAdriatic Sea between Cesenatico and Rimini, Italy
Official languagesEsperanto
Organizational structureRepublic
• President
Giorgio Rosa
Establishment
• Declared
24 June 1968 (1968-06-24)
Area claimed
• Total
0.04 km2 (0.015 sq mi)
Purported currencymilo (used in stamps; no coins or notes are known to have been printed)
President of Rose Island
Incumbent
Giorgio Rosa
since 24 June 1968
Formation24 June 1968
Abolished1968 de facto

History

In 1967, Italian engineer Giorgio Rosa funded the construction of a 400-square-metre (4,300 sq ft) platform supported by nine pylons, and furnished it with a number of commercial establishments, including a restaurant, bar, nightclub, souvenir shop and a post office. Some reports also mention the presence of a radio station, but this remains unconfirmed.

The platform declared independence on 24 June 1968, under the Esperanto name "Insulo de la Rozoj", with Rosa as self-declared President. Both Esperanto rozo (plural rozoj) and Italian rosa (plural rose) mean "rose". Soon afterwards Rose Island issued a number of stamps, including a stamp showing the approximate location of Rose Island in the Adriatic Sea. The purported currency of the republic was the "Mill" and this appeared on the early stamp issues, although no coins or banknotes are known to have been produced. This denomination was translated into Esperanto as "Miloj" on later stamp issues (it is unrelated to the Esperantist currency spesmilo).

Rosa's actions were viewed by the Italian government as a ploy to raise money from tourists while avoiding national taxation. Whether or not this was the real reason behind Rosa's micronation, the Italian government's response was swift: a group of four carabinieri and Guardia di Finanza officers landed on the "Isola delle Rose" and assumed control. The platform's Council of Government is said to have sent a telegram, presumably to the Italian government, to protest the "violation of its sovereignty and the injury inflicted on local tourism by the military occupation", but this was ignored.

On 13 February 1969,[1] the Italian Navy used explosives to destroy the facility, an act later portrayed on postage stamps issued by Rosa's self-declared government in exile.

See also

References
  1. "When Italy went to war with the esperanto micro-nation Insulo de la Rozoj",visit-rimini.com, date 09/05/2009

Further reading
  • Vaccarezza, Fabio (January 2007). "Rose Island: A Dream of Freedom". The Cinderella Philatelist: 42–46. ISSN 0009-6911.
  • Strauss, Erwin S. (1984). How to Start Your Own Country (2nd ed.). Port Townsend, WA: Breakout Productions. pp. 129–130. ISBN 1-893626-15-6.
  • Menefee, Samuel Pyeatt (Fall 1994). "'Republics of the Reefs': Nation-Building on the Continental Shelf and in the World's Oceans". California Western International Law Journal. 25 (1): 105–06. ISSN 0886-3210.
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