Welcome to Verdis: The tiny nation created of just 400 people by a 20-year-old

Remember when we were kids and used to dream about ruling our own country?

Well, one 20-year-old actually went ahead and did it. While most of us grew out of that phase, Daniel Jackson took the fantasy seriously enough to carve out his own micronation on a patch of disputed land between Croatia and Serbia.

The man is now the president of a self-proclaimed country, named Verdis, and it comes complete with a flag, cabinet, currency and nearly 400 citizens. But as you’d expect, not everything went as smoothly as he’d hoped, and Jackson is now shut out of his own “country”.

Here’s how the bizarre tale of Verdis unfolded

All about Jackson’s micronation ‘Verdis’

Daniel Jackson founded the Free Republic of Verdis, a 0.5-square-kilometre (less than 125 acres) sliver of forest along the Danube River that remains unclaimed by either Croatia or Serbia due to an unresolved border dispute.

Jackson told news agency SWNS that he discovered the area was technically unowned by anyone, and he decided to act on an idea he first had as a teenager.

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“Verdis was an idea I had when I was 14,” said Jackson. “It was just a bit of an experiment at first with a few mates. We have all dreamed of creating something crazy.”

The 20-year-old officially declared the republic’s independence on May 30, 2019.

The area the British man claimed, marked as “pocket three” on maps, is now considered the world’s second-smallest country, just after Vatican City.

A digital designer by profession, he makes his living building virtual worlds on Roblox. At just 18, he began turning Verdis into a functioning government.

“We started making Verdis a reality when I was 18 by forming some laws and a flag. We have now built up a government and have a great cabinet,” he said.

Verdis started with just four people, but it now has 400 official citizens, and thousands more who’ve shown interest. Although the micro-nation issues its own passports, Jackson advises against using them for international travel (though a few people reportedly have).

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“It is a very small country so we have to be careful who we let in,” Jackson told SWNS.

“When it comes to approving people, we look for in-demand skill sets such as experience in medicine or policing,” he said.

According to Jackson, English, Croatian, and Serbian are Verdis’ official languages, and the Euro is used as its currency. The only way to reach the tiny nation is by boat from Osijek, Croatia, but efforts to settle there haven’t been easy and have met with strong resistance.

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Run-ins with Croatian authorities

In October 2023, Croatian police detained Jackson and several others who tried to settle in the disputed area. They were deported, and Jackson was banned from re-entering Croatia for life.

“They deported us but couldn’t give a reason why,” Jackson said. “They said we were a threat to homeland security.”

Since then, Jackson has continued operating what he describes as a “government in exile” and claims Croatian authorities have set up surveillance to block access from the Serbian side.

“We have had a lot of problems with Croatian authorities, but we do want a good relationship with them in the future,” he said. “They haven’t taken to us kindly and have been aggressive.”

Jackson, who is originally from Australia, now frequently travels to Belgrade, Serbia, where he says the officials have been more open to his project.

Determined to make Verdis more than just a thought experiment, Jackson told SWNS: “It is a matter of when, not if, we get back on the land. Croatia doesn’t claim the land, so we have the right to it, and we believe that we have a good chance.”

He also insists he’s not doing this for power. “I am not interested in power at all … I just want to be a normal citizen. It has been eye-opening, and I am quite proud of what I have achieved,” he said.

Reflecting on the journey, he added: “To the naked eye it is just a lot of forest, but when you realise that you are in a country you have created, it is magical.”

With input from agencies