Allegedly, the world's smallest
sovereign nation. It is built on an old
WWII anti-aircraft platform seven miles off the
British coast, in about 25 feet of water. In the early 1960s, a retired British Army
Major by the name of
Roy Bates and his family set up a
pirate radio station on the platform and declared it an
independent country, and printed joke
passports for friends.
In 1966, during a face off with British police vessels, shots were fired and Bates and his son were hauled into court. The judge decided that Sealand was in fact not subject to British jusrisdiction, because at that time the territorial waters of Britain only extended three miles.
In 1968, some German business associates of Mr Roy invaded Sealand and attempted to capture it, but Mr Bates took it back with some of his old army buddies.
In the 1990s, several Russian, Italian, and Spanish gangsters were found to be using fake Sealand passports and documents to engage in money laundering and fraud in Eastern Europe.
And, most recently, Sealand has become the home of the world's first data haven, Havenco. Neal Stephenson is eerily accurate in his prophesizing in Cryptonomicon it seems. However, there are problems, including the still unresolved and ambiguous question of Sealand's sovereignty. I think that overall Sealand is a poor choice -- see ideal data haven location.