Travis McHenry
His Excellency Travis McHenry | |
---|---|
Subject in full military regalia | |
Born |
Brenton, Pennsylvania | June 4, 1980
Residence | West Hollywood, California |
Title | The Grand Duke |
Website |
www |
Travis McHenry is an American actor, director, and entrepreneur who is also the self-appointed dictatorial ruler of two micronations, one, called Calsahara, founded in 2009 and located within the state of California and the other, called the Grand Duchy of Westarctica, located on the continent of Arctica.
McHenry founded Westarctica in 2001 by claiming that a loophole in the Antarctic Treaty left a large swathe of land between 90° W and 150° W unclaimed by any nation.[1] That treaty also stated that the same territory could not, by international agreement, be claimed by any nation, and so McHenry acted to claim it as an individual. In pursuit of this claim he sent letters to the governments of the United States, Great Britain, Russia and others explaining the nature of his claim, all of which, however, went unanswered. [2]
References
- ↑ Williams, Holly (29 November 2014). "Meet the micronation builders: Self-appointed leaders have created independent territories, complete with flags, anthems and crowns". Independent.
- ↑ Harlander, Thomas (8 December 2015). "California's Only Dictator Rules a Tiny Fake Nation in the Middle of Nowhere". Los Angeles Magazine. Retrieved 7 November 2016.