The Dhaka Times Desk The area of a country is 75 square kilometers. But only one family lives in that country of this size. This amazing country is the smallest country in the world. The population of this country is only 26 people.
Anandabazar newspaper According to a news, the world's smallest country is called 'Principality of Hat River'. But even if it is a small country, this country has its own currency, its own passport, visa-all! However, the Principality of Hutt River declared itself as a country, but the rest of Australia refused to accept this country as a country.
Not today, 51 years ago a person named Leonard Castle rebelled against a decision of the government and declared that territory as a country. The entire land where he lived was actually Leonard's property. He also had agricultural land. From which 4 thousand hectares of wheat was produced every year. However, the administration introduced new rules for buying and selling wheat. That is why he could not sell the crops of 4000 hectares of land, but the crops that were grown on only 99 acres of land.
The administration of that place made many pleas to change this decision, but to no avail. Only then did he declare his territory as a separate country. Named the Principality of Hat River.
He declared himself king. Introduced a separate currency for the country. He named that currency Hat River Dollar. One Hutt River dollar is equal to one Australian dollar.
He also created separate flags for the country. Separate seal for government functions. Moreover, he separated all the passports and visas.
However, the rest of Australia and other countries of the world are reluctant to recognize the Principality of Hutt River as an independent country. In order to receive recognition, he also invited Queen Elizabeth II of Britain on the foundation day of the country on April 21, 1970.
Because the Queen of Britain was also the Queen of Australia. But the queen did not go, sending a letter wishing him well. That letter became Leonard's tool.
In fact, as easy as it sounds, it was not so in reality. He has to go through a lot of legal complications. Meanwhile, the government tax burden in his name was also increasing. The reason is that Western Australia has never recognized the Principality of Hutt River as a separate country.
Therefore all the laws of Western Australia applied to him. According to the rules, citizens also have to pay taxes to the government every year. Again the tax was allocated in the name of Leonard. That is why he has to go to the Supreme Court of Western Australia repeatedly asking for justice. But he had to come back after failing. However, Leonard did not give up.
Leonard was the king himself until 2017. Then he put the royal crown on his son Gremy's head. In the same year, the Supreme Court sent him a notice and ordered him to promptly deposit the outstanding 2.7 million Australian dollars in taxes. As the days went by, Leonard was getting caught up in legal complications.
He died on February 13, 2019. But out of all this the Principality of Hat River gained only one. Tourists started flocking to visit this self-proclaimed world's smallest country.
Leonard's family started earning big money from this every year. Tourists had to get a separate visa to enter this country. However, after Leonard's death, the country's economy began to suffer. The traffic of tourists also started to decrease. On him the shock of excess works much like a friend. On January 31, 2020, Leonard's descendants announced the closure of the country's borders.
The situation was such that the entire country had to be sold to pay the tax burden imposed on the Principality of Hutt River for 51 long years.
Besides, there is nothing to explore in this country. There is an office, 4/5 houses and extensive agricultural land. But the country itself has witnessed a distinct history. That is why tourists from different parts of the world used to come to this country.
But no other country in the world considers it as a country. In 2008 the Council of the European Union referred to the Hat River people's passports as 'fantasy passports'.
That letter of Queen Elizabeth II is still relied on in the struggle to protect the existence of the Principality of Hutt River, located on the banks of the Hutt River, 517 kilometers north of the Australian city of Perth! And so a country survives!
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