Westarctica

Westarctica is a United States non-profit advocating for climate action, and an unrecognised micronation in Antarctica. As a non-profit, it is registered in Sacramento, California, and officially named Westarctica Incorporated. As a micronation, it claims the area of Marie Byrd Land in Antarctica, and is formally the Grand Duchy of Westarctica. Apart from having its own flag, coat of arms, and currency (the Ice Mark), It holds non-consultative status with the NGO branch of United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, and hosted MicroCon 2022 in Las Vegas. It also offers an annual research scholarship, paid for by James P. Howard, in the fields of climate change and conservation. As of 2018, it had over 5000 members, which it referred to as citizens.

It was founded in 2001 as the Protectorate of Westarctica by Travis McHenry, a U.S. Navy intelligence specialist who had just read from the CIA World Factbook that no sovereign state laid claim to Marie Byrd Land. Despite writing letters to many different countries over the years, none, except other micronations, have recognized Westarctica's sovereignty. In 2004, he began distributing fantasy passports as souvenirs, but soon stopped after discovering that a Kenyan scammer was reselling them to refugees, claiming they were legal travel documents. By 2006, McHenry's superiors had learned he was communicating with foreign nations, and told him he would have to quit either his job in the navy, or his involvement with Westarctica. In order to keep his job, he abdicated and passed the title of Grand Duke to his friend Philip Karns.