This man has created his own country; all it took was ₹15 lakh

A late-night ‘slow jams’ DJ by profession, Randy "R Dub" Williams, has created his own country known as The Republic of Slowjamastan. According to a report by CNN Traveller, Williams said after visiting almost every country that is part of the United Nations, he decided to create his own country.

"I ran out of countries, so I created my own," Williams told CNN Traveller.

Williams is set to visit Turkmenistan, the final country on his list of 193 UN-recognised nations.

"One of the reasons I created Slowjamastan was because, after 193 countries, I wanted 194th".

Williams purchased an 11.07-acre plot of empty arid land in the California desert to build a new “country”, which is named after his radio show.

Williams, who is now the Sultan of Slowjamastan declared independence from the US on 1 December 2021 as he broadcasted the secession live from his office in Dublândia, the capital of the Republic of Slowjamastan.

This new country issues its own passports, flies its own flag, prints its own currency (“the duble”), and has a national anthem that’s played on state occasions.

CNN Traveller reported that The Republic of Slowjamastan has more than 500 registered citizens while 4,500 are waiting in line for citizenship.

Where is The Republic of Slowjamastan located?

American DJ's Micronation is located off California State Route 78, a 2.5 hours drive northwest of San Diego. Williams was inspired to create his own country after visiting various self-declared territories run by eccentric leaders.

Williams told CNN Traveller that in 2021 August he visited the Republic of Molassia, an 11.3-acre micronation in Nevada that declared independence from the US in 1998. He learned about the Republic of Molossia the how the local currency (the valora) is backed by chocolate chip cookie dough instead of gold and had his passport stamp and his photo taken on the "border" with the United States.

After returning to San Diego, Williams worked on a plan to set up his own country. In October 2021, he purchased a plot for $19,000 (INR 15,66,920) and by December had declared Slowjamastan’s independence.

Williams occasionally allows voting ceremonies in his country. He said that he allowed citizens to vote on what should be SLowjamastan's national fruit, sports, and national animal.

The Republic of Slowjamastan also enforces a list of prohibitions, CNN Traveller highlighted. Currently, these prohibitions include "Crocs" and "people who put their feet on the dashboard".

Williams revealed that his next grand plan is to raise funds to build “a lazy river, an armadillo farm, an all-you-can-eat Mongolian BBQ establishment and, of course, a giant statue/monument of The Great Leader (me)," he told CNN Traveller.

Just like Williams, self-styled Godman Nithyananda also created his own country called the United States of Kailasa (USK). Accused of rape and kidnapping, Nithyananda fled from India in 2019 and emerged a year later with the claim of having established his own country. Nithyananda bought an island off the coast of Ecuador and named the country Kailasa.

What is a micronation?

According to Collins English Dictionary, a micronation is typically existing only on the internet or within the private property of its members. Such an area is claimed to have a sovereign status as an independent nation by its people. The status is unrecognised by real nations and global organisations.

Other micronations in the world:

Rajneesh Puram: This micronation could be found in Netflix's docu-series Wild Wild Country'. The micronation was formed by the followers of Osho, an Indian spiritual leader. Rajneesh Puram is located on 64,000 acres of the former Big Muddy Ranch in Oregon.

Liberland: This is located between Croatia and Serbia. This sovereign state is spread over an area of 7 km.

Asgardia: This country draws inspiration from Marvel's Asgard and claims to have a connection with freedom in space. Asgardia was founded by Igor Ashurbeyli and has a population of 10.95 lakhs and has its own parliament.