SANDWICHED between Croatia and Serbia sits one of the world’s smallest countries that was first built virtually in the metaverse.
Before construction started on Liberland, people could only buy land and set up businesses in a virtual world with cryptocurrency.
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The metaverse was designed to look similar to the real-life Liberland – with a lake surrounding the island and trees and greenery mixed in with the futuristic buildings.
The nation – set up as a networking hub for all things crypto – built up a virtual population of 500,000 locals.
It’s a specific type of metaverse which uses Blockchain technology – where users can buy virtual land and other digital assets using cryptocurrencies.
But they could also have a stake in the physical Liberland – where the only currency is Bitcoin and there are no rules or taxes.
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Now, the Liberland metaverse – a broad term that generally refers to a shared virtual world accessed via the internet – is becoming a real place.
The island was uninhabited until 2015 when Vit Jedlička proclaimed it as a country and became the president.
He built a community and unveiled a flag, a coat of arms, a national anthem and a cryptocurrency called Liberland merit.
Jedlička plans to turn the island into the “freest country in the world” – with no plans for taxes, gun control and Bitcoin as the legal tender.
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And after more than eight gruelling years of disputes, Liberland finally opened up in August to let islanders start building a physical city.
Liberland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, Thomas Walls, was one of the first few people to enter the nation.
He told The Sun: “It’s quite exciting and I’m proud to say I was part of the first wave of Liberlanders to go in when the crossing was opened.
“It had been my dream to set foot in Liberland, and I did so on that day.”
There’s now a yacht house for meetings and parties, a pub, a radio station, working internet and wooden homes being put up daily.
It had been my dream to set foot in Liberland
Thomas Walls
With a primary school and hotel also being built, Liberland is finally becoming a real place to live after years of struggles.
They recently had the first wedding in Liberland and had a string of successful Christmas and New Year celebrations on the island.
The real island of Liberland sits between Croatia and Serbia but neither country claimed it after the Yugoslavian wars of the 1990s – leaving it unused and unwanted.
Originally it was part of Serbia, but after the war it became Croatia’s when the borders around the two nations were adjusted.
Croatia refused to take it as it gave them less territory over their neighbours – so it was left alone.
But they didn’t want people living on the land, playing by their own rules and having their own world right on Croatia’s doorstep.
They arrested and fined anyone trying to get onto the micro island, and the two battling countries had police on boats and foot, patrolling the land, keeping off any visitors.
One of those arrested was President Jedlicka.
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Since the borders opened, the president and the Liberland locals have been hard at work building up their new homeland with 1,000 people expected by the end of 2023.
Walls, Liberland’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, called fellow Liberlanders “national heroes making our country a reality”.
And he has been working on improving the island’s relationship with other countries.
He’s been leading the delegations with countries in Latin and North America such as El Salvador, Guatemala, the Dominican Republic, Haiti, Mexico, the US and Serbia.
He said other Liberland diplomats are working hard in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
In terms of size, Liberland sits at just 7 kilometres squared in area – slotting in as the world’s third smallest country if it ever gets recognised as one.
But Walls made it clear the nation has big plans for the future.
“In five years, we aspire to have a thriving, vibrant community that interacts peacefully with our immediate neighbours, Croatia, Hungary, Serbia and other countries on the Danube River,” he said.
“We aim to be a bridge between east and west. Liberland occupies a fault line between many countries, ethnic groups, languages and religions.
“We are set to make a splash in the cryptocurrency world with our blockchain governance.
“In twenty years, I foresee Liberland being a fully accepted member of the community of nations, prospering and inspiring people to live in freedom and peace wherever they are in the world.
“If we inspire a dozen other Liberlands, we will have been doing our job.”
In five years, we aspire to have a thriving, vibrant community that interacts peacefully with our immediate neighbours
Thomas Walls
Some 500,000 could-be people signed up for real passports with the Liberland sign of approval, already making them official citizens without stepping foot on the island.
One of these hopeful new guests is Ben Miller, 41, and his family.
Ben told The Sun: “I originally heard about it maybe five years ago, when I was looking at leaving the US and looking for low tax, affordable places to live around the world.
“But until this week, I didn’t even realise anybody could even access the land, let alone some people living there now.
“So regardless of whether it has been recognised, that is already some big progress.”
Ben, who works as a tech product consultant, hopes to take his wife and two young kids to Liberland one day and show them a better life.
He said: “If I went there, it would be because I’m a libertarian.
“I believe that most governments of the world today are completely out of date with their regulations, and there are way to many in general.
“It would be a fun experience for my kids, and it’s very rare to be a part of something like this.
“It could make a really fun summer trip to go over there and build a cabin or something, and who knows, could be a nice extra citizenship, one day, if this whole crazy thing actually goes anywhere.”
Last year, Liberland’s message was seen around the world on YouTube by popular English creator Niko Omilana.
The content creator, famous for running for London Mayor, posted a video sneaking onto Liberland and planting a flag in the ground.
He worked with President Vit Jedlicka to plan a way onto the island.
After three failed attempts where he got stopped either on the Danube river or physically removed at the Croatian border, Niko and his cameraman George got on the island after a lengthy police chase.
Ending with the pair of pranksters being held at gunpoint by the Croatian security and kicked.
It would be a fun experience for my kids, and it’s very rare to be a part of something like this
Ben Miller
The video has been viewed over 8.8million times and showed just how hard it is to enter Liberland.
The minister felt Niko’s YouTube video helped his people be heard.
He said: “The video shows the Croatian police detaining and kicking him and his travel companion and ultimately, the police did not come out looking very good in that.
“It got a lot of coverage in local papers, and we have no doubt it sparked some internal reviews on their part.”
The Liberland Metaverse was born out of a clever collaborative idea between Liberland, Zaha Hadid Architects, Mytaverse and ArchAgenda.
Zaha Hadid Architects principal Patrik Schumacher said the island will “function as free standing virtual reality realm in its own right”.
“The ambition is for it to become the go-to site for networking and collaboration within the burgeoning web 3.0 industry,” he continued.
“It’s the metaverse for metaverse developers and the crypto ecosystem at large.”
The leader of another micronation, Sealand, recently spoke about the platform, 7.5 miles off the Suffolk coast, that claims to be the smallest country in the world.
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Another micronation looking to become a country is Molossia.
The sovereign nation in Nevada only has 33 residents but has been around for over 45 years.
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