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It is rare for a macro- (or large) nation to recognize a micronation because the latter are often thought of as nonserious attempts at publicity. In this respect, Prince Leonard has gained one highly sought after prize of new nations: recognition by outside nations. What does this mean? That he has effectively and peacefully seceded from the country of Australia and that both countries have recognized this. Prince Leonard pays no taxes to the country of Australia, and has received recognition by the Australian government as a separate legal entity. Prince Leonard has achieved his initial goal and more: he has followed many of the necessary steps found in my guide to creating a nation (link here).
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Micronations exist in various levels of legality, some are simply seen as silly games played by zealous individuals, some strive for legal recognition, but a select few ever achieve it to the degree that Prince Leonard has. Micronations have a very small population, usually only a family or two, and a relatively small territory (although the Hutt River actually has a territory larger than some widely recognized nations). The Principality of Hutt River is a micronation. There have been many civil wars in Africa, for example the conflict between Sudan and South Sudan (which also may not be called a civil war per se, more so because war may not be the correct term, but the concept still applies) has led to the recent creation of South Sudan as a nation on 9 July 2011. This is more of a technicality, and the point that a war created a new country remains. Some might argue however that the fact that other countries such as the United States played a role in this war that the term Civil war does not apply. For example, the Korean War may be considered a Civil War which created a new nation based on the fact that it was between two factions of a single previous country, and the conflict ended (or stalemated) with two nations.
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There have been other civil wars which have been more successful in creating new nations. Some of the belligerents in these wars certainly wished to start a new country but were unsuccessful. There have been many famous civil wars: classic history speaks of the English Civil War, the French Revolution, The American Civil War to name a few- but none of these have successfully started a new country. It is very rare for a country to have such a strong influence over people who are not citizens of that country, making Vatican City a rather unique nation. This is because although Vatican City has fewer than 1,000 citizens, the Catholic religion is practiced by more than 1 billion people worldwide, meaning that Vatican City has tremendous international influence. Vatican City has a major global impact, arguably larger than many states of greater size. Vatican city meets all of the criteria for the declarative theory of statehood as well, making it a state by both main definitions. (See the difference between Declarative and Constitutive theories of statehood here). Vatican City is not a member of the United Nations, but it is still widely recognized as a state separate from any other, meeting the criteria for the constitutive theory of statehood. Today the Vatican City is still the head of the Roman Catholic Church, and it is unique among nations in that many modern nations seek to not specify a particular religion, while Vatican City exists only to preach its religion. The difference was that Italy was becoming a modern nation with many various aspects, while Vatican City focused to a much greater extent on the aspect of religion. Ironically, both Italy and Vatican City, at the time of the Lateran Treaty, held Roman Catholicism as the official religion. Vatican City exists as a nation because of Religion, one of the major reasons in the creation of some nations.