Aerican Empire
Micronation in Canada
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The Aerican Empire (/ɒˈɛrɪkɪn/ ah-ERR-i-kin; French: Empire aéricain), conventionally referred to in short form as Aerica (/ɒˈɛrɪkə/ ah-ERR-i-kə), is an unrecognized self-proclaimed monarchy in Canada, founded in May 1987 for fun.[1][2] Its name stems from the term "American Empire".[3] In 2000 The New York Times described its website as "one of the more imaginative" micronation sites.[4][5][6]
History
The Aerican Empire was founded on May 8, 1987 by Canadian Eric Lis[7] and a group of friends. For the first ten years the Empire was almost completely fictional, claiming sovereignty over a vast galaxy of feigned planets and engaging in wars against other micronations (although never resulting in physical contact).[8] In 1997, the Empire created its own website.[9]
In 2007, Aerica first issued "novelty passports." The first issued passport was exhibited in the Palais de Tokyo 2007 Micronational art exhibition.[citation needed] Aerica issued stamps for the first time in 2015.[10][better source needed]
Status
The project's mission statement is: "The Empire exists to facilitate the evolution of a society wherein the Empire itself is no longer necessary."[8][11][12] It describes itself as having a parliamentary system, with various elected bodies and offices, under the oversight of an Emperor (currently the founder, Eric Lis).[13] Lis, who founded the Aerican Empire as a child, obtained his M.D., C.M. from McGill University.[citation needed]
The group's activities are permeated by a great deal of humour and a love of science fiction and fantasy, with recurrent references to Star Wars, The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, and similar works. Annually, the Empire holds story-writing contests, role-playing and wargaming days, and such events as the Dog-Biscuit Appreciation Day Scavenger Hunt.[8] It also developed a religion called Silinism, the worship of the Great Penguin; originally intended as a joke, but which the group says has thirty practitioners worldwide.[4] It has holidays and "niftydays" (such as Saint Bill's Day, "honoring the ultimate nerd"[14] and Topin Wagglegammon, "the Niftiest Day of the Year"[15]).
Offline activities
Delegations from the Aerican Empire were in attendance at the Polinations academic conference in London in 2012[16][17] and the MicroCon micronations convention in Atlanta in 2017.[18] Aerica was also represented at MicroCon 2023 in Joliet, Illinois.[19]
In 2025, the Aerican Empire hosted MicroCon 2025 at Ruby Foo's hotel in Montreal, which was attended by 120 participants from 48 micronations.[20][21][better source needed]
National symbols
Their flag is similar to the flag of Canada, with a yellow smiling face instead of the red maple leaf in the white square (although the red rectangles on the sides have different side length ratios).[citation needed]