MicroWiki

{{Short description|Online encyclopedia for micronations}}

{{Infobox website

| name = MicroWiki

| logo = File:MicroWiki logo.svg

| logo_caption =

| screenshot = File:MicroWiki.png

| screenshot_alt =

| caption = The main page of MicroWiki, retrieved 8 May 2023.

| collapsible = yes

| url = {{URL|https://micronations.wiki/wiki/Main_Page|micronations.wiki}}

| commercial = No

| type = Online encyclopedia

| registration = Required for editing

| language = 14 languages

| num_users = 47,000+

| country_of_origin =

| owners = MicroWiki Foundation

| author = Fabian Schneider

| launch_date = 27 May 2005

| current_status = Active

| programming_language =

| content_license = {{Nowrap|CC Attribution / Share-Alike 4.0}}

}}

MicroWiki is a free online encyclopedia about micronations launched in 2005.{{cite thesis|url=https://utheses.univie.ac.at/detail/10077|last=Andel|first=Irina Ulrike|year=2010|title=Micronations: Konstituierte Staaten in konstruierten Welten. Zur historischen Entwicklung von Mikronationen und ihren gegenwärtigen Ausprägungen|trans-title=Micronations: Constituted States in Constructed Worlds. On the historical development of micronations and their current manifestations|type=Master of Philosophy thesis|language=German|publisher=University of Vienna|page=10|access-date=3 October 2023}} It has since become the principal way in which Internet users document micronational matters, as most do not meet Wikipedia's notability requirements.{{cite web |last1=Simon |first1=Usborne |title=MicroCon 2015: Dictators of the world unite at world summit of micronations - countries too small to count |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/microcon-2015-dictators-world-unite-world-summit-micronations-countries-too-small-count-10174346.html |work=The Independent |date=13 April 2015 |access-date=11 May 2021}} It is maintained by volunteers using the same MediaWiki software as Wikipedia.{{cite web|title=Sites using MediaWiki/en|url=https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Sites_using_MediaWiki/en|access-date=11 May 2021|website=MediaWiki}} MicroWiki describes itself as "the largest encyclopedia about micronations".{{cite journal |last1=Hayward |first1=Philip |last2=Khamis |first2=Susie |date=2015 |title=Fleeting and Partial Autonomy: A historical account of quasi-micronational initiatives on Lundy Island and their contemporary reconfiguration on MicroWiki.|url=https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/119111/1/g.-Hayward-&-Khamis-Shima-v9n1-69-84.pdf |journal=Shima: The International Journal of Research into Island Cultures|volume=9 |page=78|issn=1834-6057|access-date=15 April 2021}}{{Cite web |last=Esteban |first=Cristina Fernández |date=2020-09-08 |title=11 micronaciones absurdas en las que puedes solicitar ciudadanía o incluso tener un título nobiliario |url=https://www.businessinsider.es/11-micronaciones-absurdas-puedes-solicitar-ciudadania-706215 |access-date=2022-03-15 |website=Business Insider España |language=es}}{{Cite web |last=B |first=Alvaro Lopez |date=2017-02-09 |title=Micronaciones: ¿cómo son y cuál es su historia? |url=https://www.eldefinido.cl/actualidad/plazapublica/8115/Micronaciones-como-son-y-cual-es-su-historia/ |access-date=2022-03-15 |website=El Definido}}

As of August 2023, there are over 210,000 pages on MicroWiki.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date= |title=Statistics - MicroWiki |url=https://micronations.wiki/wiki/Special:Statistics}} Polish author Maciej Grzenkowicz described MicroWiki as "Wikipedia devoted to micronations",{{cite book |last1=Grzenkowicz |first1=Maciej |title=Tycipaństwa. Księżniczki, bitcoiny i kraje wymyślone |date=2021 |publisher=Wydawnictwo Poznańskie |isbn=9788366839144 |url=https://kultura.onet.pl/ksiazki/maciej-grzenkowicz-tycipanstwa-ksiezniczki-bitcoiny-i-kraje-wymyslone-fragment/gyyk3ep |language=Polish |via=Onet.pl}} and The Independent remarked that the encyclopedia was a thorough resource, with several articles on micronations that were longer than those of real-world nations on Wikipedia.

MicroWiki uses the Creative Commons Attribution ShareAlike license for its content.{{cite web|title=MicroWiki:Copyrights|url=https://micronations.wiki/wiki/MicroWiki:Copyrights|access-date=11 May 2021|language=English}} Articles can cover an individual person, micronation, government departments or other micronation related topics. The site has message forums on micronation-related discussions on the messaging application Discord.{{cn|date=October 2023}}

Hayward and Khamis claimed in an academic journal for Shima that many of the micronations featured on the wiki were, in fact virtual entities which existed almost solely as listings on the encyclopedia. They claimed that some users treated the website as a 'fantasy gaming service,' where 'players' could interact with other 'virtual micronations' while noting that this is not the purpose of MicroWiki advocated by its administration.{{cite journal |last1=Hayward |first1=Philip |date=2018 |title=Secessionism, submergence and Siteresponsive art: The Embassy of the Commonwealth of New Bayswater at the 1st Fremantle Biennale|url=https://opus.lib.uts.edu.au/bitstream/10453/130709/1/n.-Hayward-Shima-v12n1-3.pdf |journal=Shima: The International Journal of Research into Island Cultures|volume=12 |pages=163–168|doi=10.21463/shima.12.1.14 |s2cid=195031869 |issn=1834-6057|access-date=15 April 2021}} In the Cambridge University Press book Micronations and the Search for Sovereignty, MicroWiki is mentioned several times as an online community for online micronations.{{Cite book |last1=Hobbs |first1=Harry |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/micronations-and-the-search-for-sovereignty/B0414A3A322695D9EE71E4CDDFDA06DE |title=Micronations and the Search for Sovereignty |last2=Williams |first2=George |date=2022 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-1-009-15012-5 |series=Cambridge Studies in Constitutional Law |location=Cambridge}}