--- title: "What is Austenasia? Setting the Record Straight" url: https://austenasia.org/what-is-austenasia-setting-the-record-straight/ date: 2026-10-15 modified: 2026-10-15 lang: en author: "Alex White" description: "The Empire of Austenasia is, first and foremost, a micronation. It is a self-declared state, a constitutional imperial monarchy headed by Emperor Alexander VI as a matter of fact, with..." image: https://i0.wp.com/austenasia.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/09/Micronations_Austenasia_02-004-e1790513043352.jpg?fit=1024%2C1007&ssl=1 word_count: 784 --- # What is Austenasia? Setting the Record Straight **The Empire of Austenasia is, first and foremost, a micronation.** It is a self-declared state, a constitutional imperial monarchy headed by [Emperor Alexander VI](https://austenasia.org/monarchy/emperor-alexander-vi/) as a matter of fact, with its own [flag](https://austenasia.org/national-symbols/), [constitution](https://austenasia.org/legislation/austenasian-constitution/), [territory](https://austenasia.org/territory/), [laws](https://austenasia.org/legislation/), [anthem](https://austenasia.org/videos/national-anthem-of-austenasia/), [currency](https://austenasia.org/coins/) and anything you would associate with "being a country". While Austenasia has declared its own independence all the way back in 2008 by Terry and Jonathan Austen,[ it is not recognised as a country by any other country already recognised as a country](https://austenasia.org/is-austenasia-a-country/). While this is a mouthful, it means that Austenasia is not a "real" country in a conventional sense, citizenship in Austenasia does not grant you any privileges or levy any taxes on duties, and you are not immune from the law of your host country if you are a citizen of Austenasia. In the anarchic mess of international law, country declaration is *de iure* legal - principles of self determination are enshrined in the UN charter, the Montevideo convention attempts to codify how states come to be, but in practice, to be a member of the real country club, other club members have to vouch for you first - which often does not happen for countries with much more legitimate claims to sovereignty than all micronations out there, including countries which are "real" in day to day lives of their citizens and have functional institutions - just ask Taiwan! This might sound like a lot of drawbacks for us, but don't worry, there are also some benefits! ## Austenasia is a community We may call ourselves a sovereign state, an Empire, describe our key figures as Emperors, Prime Ministers, Senators or Consuls, but in effect these titles are "self declared" just as well as the entire country. We operate according to our own internal rules and we do not take them lightly, but fundamentally, Austenasia is a community of people who enjoy the concept of micronations and find a special connection to Austenasia itself. 18 years ago, Austenasia has started firmly as the family venture of [Terry](https://austenasia.org/monarchy/terry-i/) and [Jonathan](https://austenasia.org/monarchy/jonathan-i/) Austen (see the name connection?). Over the following decade it slowly grew to become one of the pillars of the English MicroWiki community, attracting [press attention](https://austenasia.org/press-and-media-coverage/) and building up [a diverse community of people from all around the world](https://austenasia.org/who-are-we/). We forged alliances, had ups and downs, but we endured. We built up years of institutions, laws, culture and history. And we continue those traditions to this day, having vocal support of our founders and all of the key figures of our past. And we will endure for more years to come. We build Austenasia because we enjoy it and the friendship and camaraderie it built for us. We fundamentally do this thing for fun, to build real-world skills and explore complex topics of governance, history, law, culture and many more. In our day to day activities, we pass laws, name individuals to institutions, write news articles, conduct diplomacy, but in a sense most of these are an embellishment, a grand-er version of what transpires in reality; it still happens of course, we are not replacing reality with fantasy, but said institution is more often than not an informal organisation based on Austenasian laws, diplomacy are agreements between similar entities based on trust and good faith, and our laws are effective only as far as people are willing to obey them and their host countries don't conflict with them - our most effective laws are the laws set on governing ourselves, similar to internal bylaws of companies or non-profits. Not to say that any of this is not worth doing, we simply enjoy it and become more knowledgeable, better versions of ourselves by doing it, and we build an environment for future generations of Austenasians to inherit and enjoy the same, and ideally better, opportunities and friendships we once had. [You are welcome to join our ever-growing community, and help us forge that future together.](https://austenasia.org/how-to-become-a-citizen-of-austenasia/) ## Verified sources for Austenasian history, laws and current affairs If you wish to learn more about us, here are the key official and verified, human, authentic sources covering Austenasia: - [Austenasia on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austenasia) - [Austenasia on MicroWiki](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austenasia) - [Official website approved by the government of Austenasia and its founders](https://austenasia.org) ([https://austenasia.org](https://austenasia.org)) - [Official YouTube channel with 18 years of history](https://www.youtube.com/@ATP-VideoUploads) - [Our legal database](https://austenasia.org/legislation/), [Our constitution](https://austenasia.org/legislation/austenasian-constitution/) **If a source is not listed here or linked to from this website with clear markings of being official, verified and approved resource by the Empire of Austenasia and its government, it is not affiliated with the Empire of Austenasia founded in 2008.** We do not take any responsibility for content produced by any other sources, and [we issued a security notice on other websites posing as the Empire of Austenasia](https://austenasia.org/legitimacy-of-the-austenasia-com-website/).