- [Narrator] Unless
you're born into the job, it's pretty difficult to
become a king or queen. The first requirement
is a country to rule, but that's not as hard as you think. There are unclaimed lands
out there just waiting to be claimed by someone
with a dream and ambition. Here are 10 that you could actually rule. - Amazing. - [Narrator] Number Ten. Marie Byrd Land. If you have ambitions
to rule a large kingdom, how about Marie Byrd Land? It's the largest unclaimed
area of land in the world. It's free, it's easy to locate, and it's waiting for someone to claim it. But before you start making plans, you should probably think about it. Why is an area as big as
Greenland lying empty? Well, Marie Byrd Land is in the remotest parts of Antarctica, where the temperature never rises above freezing. It's a land of snowy,
rocky, barren mountains with a covering of ice
four kilometers thick. Situated between the Ross
Shelf and the Ross Sea, Marie Byrd Land was
discovered in 1929 in a flight undertaken by a U.S. Naval commander named Richard E. Byrd, who
named it after his wife, and is so remote that no
nations with an interest in the Antarctic have claimed it. One man tried, though, in 2001. Travis McHenry laid claim to it and renamed it the Protectorate
of Westarctica. To substantiate his
claims, he sent letters to all the countries signed up in the Antarctic treaty. Nobody answered and the
claim went unrecognized, so it's probably still up for grabs, if you like the extreme cold. Number Nine. Liberland. In April 2015 a Czechoslovakian
named Vit Jedlicka succeeded in establishing a kingdom when he discovered 75 square
kilometers of unclaimed deserted forest covered land sandwiched between Croatia and Serbia. He declared himself President, claiming the purpose of his new state was to build a country where honest people can prosper without being oppressed by government, making their lives
unpleasant by the burdens of restrictions and taxes. Sounds ideal, but the following month Croatia began blocking
access to Liberland, detaining and convicting
anyone who attempted to enter, and in May
2016 passed a law making crossing into Liberland illegal. Ever since legal arguments have raged between the countries with no outcome. Many claim that Vit
Jedlicka created the whole country as a publicity
stunt, but in the first year, he received 20,000
applications for citizenship. Today the motto of the micronation is Live and Let Live, and
Jedlicka spends his time traveling the world promoting his country that has recently switched
to a bitcoin economy. However Croatia still
arrests and prosecutes anyone who attempts to go there. Number Eight. The Lagoan Isles. How about becoming the ruler of the Grand Duchy of the Lagoan Isles? You can issue your own banknotes, design your own flag,
and even have your own coat of arms. Sounds good, but it's a lot
grander than it really is. The Lagoan Isles are three
islands in the middle of Baffins Pond in the
English city of Portsmouth. The pond and islands
date back as far as 1194, and have changed hands many times until 1912, when it became a public park that was sold to the City of Portsmouth. In 2005 Louis Stephens
noticed that the islands were not part of the sale. He contacted Portsmouth
Council and laid claim to them, calling himself Grand
Duke of the Lagoan Isles. He designed his own flag and coat of arms, and even released his own banknotes. However, he must have grown
bored with being a Grand Duke as research shows the islands are again unclaimed and uninhabited. Why not plant your own flag there? Just go to Portsmouth, hire a rowing boat, swim, or if it's shallow
enough, just wade out to your new country and plant your flag. Number Seven. The Other World Kingdom. How about buying a ready-made kingdom set in seven and a half
acres of land surrounding a 16th century chateau in
eastern Czechoslovakia? It has its own passports,
police force, courts, currency, state flag, and national anthem, and can be yours for just 8 million Euros. There's just one slight problem. Despite declaring itself
an independent state, the Other World Kingdom
has never been recognized by any other country, instead being deemed a private business. Still it gets away with
not paying any taxes to the Czech government and does itself earn taxes from foreigners who visit. Originally it was established as a resort for practitioners of BDSM, femdom, and other erotic practices, and styled itself as a matriarchy ruled by a Queen Patricia the First, an absolute monarch who had the power to amend laws and was the sublime supreme administrator. After ten years it closed
and was put up for sale with the suggestion that it was suitable for the development of a hotel complex. Currently it's still available. Number Six. Ailsa Crag. If you can't be a king, how about settling for Lord of the Isles? All it would cost is one
and a half million pounds. That's the price of Ailsa Crag, a 220 acre volcanic plug that forms
a small island halfway between Scotland and Ireland. It rises to 1100 feet above sea level. Though you could buy it
from its current owner, nobody currently lives
there, and it's remained unclaimed for a long time. There would be nothing
stopping an imperialist vigilante from sailing
over there and declaring a state of independence. Sure, they'd be the only
resident, but it's not like anyone would care
enough to declare war, as its current owner, Archibald Kennedy, passed away in 2015. The island is home to a
ruined 16th century castle, a cottage, a lighthouse, and 36,000 pairs of breeding gannets, one of the world's largest colonies. However, before you
rush to buy, it's worth knowing that any development
is strictly controlled by the Royal Society for
the Protection of Birds. Still, there is a quarry that
will provide you with income. The island is the only place
in the world that is home to Red Hone Granite, Common Green Granite, and Blue Hone Granite,
the types of granite used to produce the world's
finest curling stones. Currently the sole rights
to quarrying are owned by a company called
Kay's Curling, but surely as a new owner, you could
renegotiate the terms and conditions. Number Five. The Moon. If you have money, technical expertise, and a space rocket, you
could always establish your own kingdom on the moon. While the 1967 Outer Space
Treaty banned countries from owning the moon,
it says nothing about any individuals claiming it. Although if you did make
a claim, it would create an interesting legal argument
with an American named Dennis M. Hope, who in
1980 claimed ownership by simply writing a letter
to the United Nations that not only claimed the moon, but eight other planets too. His letter informed the
U.N. that if they had any objections they
should write back to him. To date, the organization hasn't, and so a planetary estate agent was born. So far Hope has sold six
hundred and eleven million square acres to people who appreciate the novelty value of
owning a bit of the Moon. At around 20 dollars per deed, the man's making serious money out of selling a talking point and a
flashy framed certificate. There's still plenty of
moon and universe left, so why not do the same? Write a letter to the U.N., and when they don't answer, begin selling off parcels of lunar land that haven't been sold yet. Number Four. Akhzivland. How about becoming ruler of a little plot of land situated on the Mediterranean with ocean views, great weather, and a fascinating history? Akhzivland is a micronation that was once a fishing village
deserted by its residents during the 1948 Arab-Israeli War. In 1952 an ex-Army veteran named Eli Avivi moved into one of its deserted houses. In 1970 the Israeli government attempted to bulldoze his house, and in protest Eli Avivi founded Akhzivland, establishing a hostel,
museum, its own flag, and a national anthem. The Israelis weren't impressed
and Avivi was arrested, then released as a judge
ruled that a charge of creation of a country
without permission didn't exist. A compromise was reached
and the Israelis agreed to lease the land to Avivi for 99 years, who promptly made himself
President for Life. They did not rule on
Akhzivland's legal status, although this hasn't stopped the Israeli Ministry of Tourism
promoting its attractions. Avivi died in May 2018
and it's unclear what will happen the Akhzivland. His widow hopes it becomes
a permanent memorial to her husband, whom she described as the best president ever. So, maybe you can make an
offer and get the Israeli government to allow you
to take up the lease. Number Three. The Principality of Sealand. Of course if you can't
buy a kingdom, you can stage an invasion. The Principality of
Sealand has been invaded three times in its short history. It's situated on a disused seafort built during World War Two, 13
kilometers off the Suffolk coast. In the early 1960's, after being convicted of broadcasting illegally,
Roy Bates relocated his radio station there. When the 1967 Broadcasting
Act made pirate radio illegal, Bates declared
the fort to be independent, and renamed it the
Principality of Sealand. He never restarted his
radio station as running a principality took up most of his time, especially as he had to repel an invasion by members of a rival
pirate radio station. The second battle of
Sealand occurred in 1978 when a German businessman,
who had purchased the title of Prime Minister for Life, invaded and held Bates hostage. The coup d'etat was ended by Bates' son, Prince Roy, an ex-Army major who staged a counter invasion and
captured the businessman's lawyer, a situation that
took a German diplomat to sort out. The Principality raises
finances by selling titles, issuing stamps and coins, and establishing an offshore internet hosting service. It has its own website
and publishes its own online newspaper. Bates died in 2012, and
the principality passed to his son Michael, who
currently lives in Suffolk. So all you need is an invasion plan, which would be easy to
carry out since nobody currently lives there, and the Principality of Sealand could be yours. Number Two. South Sentinel Island. How about ruling a tropical
island in the middle of the Bay of Bengal? White beaches, swaying
palm trees, blue waters, a beautiful forested coral island, South Sentinel Island
is administered by the Indian government as a protectorate and doesn't claim the island as part of India, so in theory, it's ripe
to land on and declare your own private kingdom. However, it does have a downside. Some very unfriendly neighbors. North Sentinel Island, also administered by India, is home of the Sentinelese, an indigenous race listed as
one of the uncontacted peoples. As well as living near
a Stone Age existence, the islanders shun any contact
with the outside world, to the extent that they have
a tendency to kill anyone who attempts to land on their island. After a number of deaths, in
1996 the Indian government banned any contact from the outside world. They didn't pursue the
killers, considering the Sentinelese a sovereign
people with the freedom to kill any interlopers. With neighbors like
that, a tropical kingdom suddenly doesn't look that appealing. Number One. Bir Tawil. Bir Tawil is 800 square
miles of desert situated between Egypt and Sudan
that, due to territorial disputes, completely fell off the map. Well, it's on some maps. Only Egyptian maps show
it to belong to Sudan, while Sudanese maps
show it to be Egyptian. A situation that means Bir
Tawil has the legal status of Terra Nullius, nobody's land. Over the years many people
have staked their claims to this land, but the
latest and most unusual was by an American named Jeremiah Heaton, who claimed the land in order to make his six year old daughter
Emily a real princess. However, instead of being
hailed as a doting parent, Jeremiah received much
criticism on social media, accusing him of being a colonialist. Currently the land is
unclaimed, but if you want to become king, there are
some facts you need to know. Bir Tawil is a rocky, sandy
desert and one of the most inhospitable regions on earth. It has no population, no
coastline, no surface water, and no arable soil. Not a lot going for it really. So, if you could be bothered
to actually go there and claim these places,
which piece of land would you like to be king of, and why? Let me know in the comments
section down below, and thanks for watching. (upbeat music)
