NationStates Jolt Archive

Not some dingy little rock in the artic, but a mountanous reasonably habitable island with an okay climate. I emailed the British government about it and they havent replied so i was wondering whether anyone on here could help me. I just want an approximate figure.
and btw, i'm not crazy or anything, i actually do want to buy an island somewhere, i just dont know how much it's going to cost.

Not some dingy little rock in the artic, but a mountanous reasonably habitable island with an okay climate. I emailed the British government about it and they havent replied so i was wondering whether anyone on here could help me. I just want an approximate figure.
and btw, i'm not crazy or anything, i actually do want to buy an island somewhere, i just dont know how much it's going to cost.
At the very least, around £500,000, give or take a few.

oh. thats not too bad. i thought it would be more than that. Got any ideas for a country which would be willing to sell one, because apparently Britain's not one of them.

Notice how I said at the very least. That's a small plot of land, about the price of one of the islands in the Great Lakes, well, a plot of that island, anyway. Expect £1,000,000 and upwards.

There used to be a an estate agency that specialised in off-shore islands. If they're still going, they may have a website. Bear in mind though, you rarely buy sovereignty along with the land, in case that's what you had in mind.

Try Australia. There's one for sale not owned by the government but I forgot it's name.

Check out this website
http://www.privateislandsonline.com

They actually did a estimate of how much it would cost for another nation to 'buy' Britain, including the population, and let's just say it was alot.

65 billion billion trillion or something.

Check out this website
http://www.privateislandsonline.com

Hey, I could afford that Canadian island! It looks really cute, plus you get a spare!

Shame my job is on the other side of the Atlantic :(

check out www.escapeartist.com. they have a section on international real estate.

Not all of the listed there are that expensive - they have a few listings as low as $75,000.

There used to be a an estate agency that specialised in off-shore islands. If they're still going, they may have a website. Bear in mind though, you rarely buy sovereignty along with the land, in case that's what you had in mind.

Do you think it would be possible to buy sovereignty? Becasue you are right, thats what i had in mind. Do you think i'd have to pay more for that, because some of these islands are already stretching my budget.

Do you think it would be possible to buy sovereignty? Becasue you are right, thats what i had in mind. Do you think i'd have to pay more for that, because some of these islands are already stretching my budget.

No need to buy sovereignty ... just declare it. Oh ... and make sure you have some sort of army to back it up.

i wish i was rich....... :cool:

Someplaces methinks you can just declare your land a soveriegn nation and it legally stands as such.
In Britain you can in fact do this, and thusly remove yourself from having to pay tax. Although it does mean you can't use the NHS, public schools, etc.

Edit: Keruvalia beat me to it...

No need to buy sovereignty ... just declare it. Oh ... and make sure you have some sort of army to back it up.

But i suppose if i have some sort of army, i could just invade and island and hope the other country wont bother attacking me. Mind you, i bet thats what Argentina thought. This may need some more planning.

No need to buy sovereignty ... just declare it. Oh ... and make sure you have some sort of army to back it up.
Sometimes countries have to buy it: Example: The Federal Republic of Germany who paid the Soviets for giving the five east German states (the GDR) the right to join the Federal Republic and for leaving the country (till 1994). 15 billion Marks. Though later Russia received much more in loans in order to secure that they keep their contractual obligation and that that the reform process continues.
So, sometimes sovereignity needs to be bought. Like the US did over Alaska (buying it from the Russians).

Someplaces methinks you can just declare your land a soveriegn nation and it legally stands as such.
In Britain you can in fact do this, and thusly remove yourself from having to pay tax. Although it does mean you can't use the NHS, public schools, etc.
Edit: Keruvalia beat me to it...
Really: How much does an island cost then? I´m just interested in a small one, hehe. But if I have the right to declare it an independent nation I would do so. And I would write a constituition, declare myself head of state and would try to build up a tourism industry from "the smallest country" of the world.

the likelihood of being able to get sovereignty is very low. very few countries are so hard up that they will sell off part of their territory.

there are many many rich people in the world who would have already done it if it were "do-able"

plus your current country would probably dispute your change of citizenship and expect you to pay your income taxes.

Really: How much does an island cost then? I´m just interested in a small one, hehe. But if I have the right to declare it an independent nation I would do so. And I would write a constituition, declare myself head of state and would try to build up a tourism industry from "the smallest country" of the world.

Prices paid for the transfer of sovereignty tend to be the balancing payments at the end of a diplomatic process.

Unfortunately, you can declare all you want, but your neighbours don't have to recognise it, even if you're outside their territorial waters. There was a long standing case off the UK, some guy bought a disused fort, declared sovereignty, started issuing passports on demand to pay the bills. The government got quite upset with that. I can't remember how the case got resolved, but I do remember the passports were singularly unrecognised by European states.

Still, find somewhere remote, keep your head down, you might get away with it so long as you don't bother anyone. Alternatively, find somewhere Russian - they seem generally open to offers.

Prices paid for the transfer of sovereignty tend to be the balancing payments at the end of a diplomatic process.

Unfortunately, you can declare all you want, but your neighbours don't have to recognise it, even if you're outside their territorial waters. There was a long standing case off the UK, some guy bought a disused fort, declared sovereignty, started issuing passports on demand to pay the bills. The government got quite upset with that. I can't remember how the case got resolved, but I do remember the passports were singularly unrecognised by European states.

Still, find somewhere remote, keep your head down, you might get away with it so long as you don't bother anyone. Alternatively, find somewhere Russian - they seem generally open to offers.
I don´t think so. They even don´t want to give four little islands back to Japan (the Southern Kurils), although that is an obstacle which led Japan to invest very little in Russia.
Therefore I was wondering about a country seeling its own territory. That happends very seldom and only if the country is really in big, big need.
And about founding my own country: I was just kidding of course.

Therefore I was wondering about a country seeling its own territory. That happends very seldom and only if the country is really in big, big need.
And about founding my own country: I was just kidding of course.

The Japanese islands are way too high-profile for an easy deal. The way to do deals with the Russians is to keep things nice and quiet, under the counter if you like. (That's how my wife got space for her project on their cosmonaut training programme.)

Like I say, keep your head down, don't bother anyone.

The Japanese islands are way too high-profile for an easy deal. The way to do deals with the Russians is to keep things nice and quiet, under the counter if you like. (That's how my wife got space for her project on their cosmonaut training programme.)
Like I say, keep your head down, don't bother anyone.
Quiet diplomacy is often the best. Though it can work: like chancellor Kohl who "bought" the GDR from the Soviets. Though an iron Lady wanted to prevent that deal.
Anyway - foreign companies - especially from Europe (Germany) already play a key role in the Russian energy sector.
But psst. Keep quiet about it, otherwise the US gets jealous.

I would guess that you'd need to provide your own security forces to guard the island, if you ceceded from government control. Otherwise there'd be no-one to stop looters/thieves/pirates from sailing up and burning the place to the ground and stealing everything not nailed down. The previous government of the island would hardly come to your aid. Also, I would expect that most governments would be reluctant to allow the independence of any islands particularly close to their own coastlines and especially within inland seas because of a possible threat of terrorism.

Really: How much does an island cost then? I´m just interested in a small one, hehe. But if I have the right to declare it an independent nation I would do so. And I would write a constituition, declare myself head of state and would try to build up a tourism industry from "the smallest country" of the world.

There's a guy thats already done this Kybernetia... go to http://www.sealandgov.com/ or search for Sealand. A guy has declared a WW2 offshore platform his country and claims to have de facto independence since a British court ruled he was not liable for income tax, or something like that.

$24.00

There's a guy in sweden who when his "art" was considered a threat to the national park where he built claimed that the tiny strip of beach was a country, you can buy yourself nobelity status and everthing, I don't have the homepage but search on google for Ladonia or the swedish name Ladonien, my freind showed it to me once and they had section in english, I am NOT joking, I have actually been to the place.

Aah, they have got a more simple URL than when I last visited, the english: www.ladonia.net

Amazing...look at the prices of islands! I might be able to buy one after I manipulate capatilism to my interests! :D

There's a guy thats already done this Kybernetia... go to http://www.sealandgov.com/ or search for Sealand. A guy has declared a WW2 offshore platform his country and claims to have de facto independence since a British court ruled he was not liable for income tax, or something like that.
Thanks. That is really funny.
The Sealand flag by the way has the colours of Germany from 1871-1918 however the other way around. It was also the flag of the North German confederation (1866-1871) - it are the colours of Prussia (Black, White, and the north sea cities). The founder of Sealand was not very creative in chosing his national flag.
I think however it would be a funny thing to have your own island - or plattform. If you are swimming in the national waters of another country you are de fact under its protection - especially due to the fact that it wouldn´t allow evil-doers into its waters or territory. Monaco, the Vaticans, San Marino or Andorra live pefectly with that. I don´t see a reason that an even smaller entity wouldn´t be able to do so. And if some countries make that possible to seize independence when you buy an island - even indirectly by not taking action against it and not to tax it - it might be good idea after all.

So has anybody bought an Island yet :p, I would come live there for sure!

So has anybody bought an Island yet :p, I would come live there for sure!
Even if I be the King of it, hehe.

On sovereignity, under the provisons of the Montevideo Convention, every American nation but Bolivia must recognise a nation with declared territorial boundaries, a working government, the ability to establish diplomatic ties, and a functioning government.

Beware, though; recently declassified documents reveal there were plans to invade Sealand in the late 1960's.

try polynesia. a couple of years ago they 'discovered' that they had about 2000 islands more than they thought they did before counting them ;)
then they tried to sell some of them, from what I've heard.
the climate would be awesome! ...a lot of bugs though. but as soon as you declare your country's independence, you can just ban bugs.
:D