Editing Micronation (section)

=== Conceptualisation ===
As of January 1973, the Office of the Geographer of the [[United States Department of State]] had a file cabinet for "countries which are only partially real", which included the [[Kingdom of Humanity]], Outer Baldonia, Minerva and the [[Sovereign Military Order of Malta]]—not a micronation{{sfn|Hobbs|Williams|2021b|p=50, 52}}—among others. Writer [[w:Philip J. Hilts|Philip J. Hilts]] added, "We know the [[Eastern bloc]], the [[Western bloc]], and the [[Third World]] nations. But there is another universe of nations which exist apart from the familiar countries."<ref>{{cite news|last=Hilts|first=Philip J.|author-link=Philip J. Hilts|date=21 January 1973|title=Where Is This Place?: Strange shores, indeed|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|page=PC12|id={{ProQuest|148471481}}}}</ref> The [[International Micropatrological Society]] (IMS), an American [[learned society]] and [[research institute]], was founded in 1973 and dedicated to the study of micronations, a discipline it named ''micropatrology''.{{sfn|O'Driscoll|2000|p=100}}{{sfn|Moreau|2014|page=51}}{{sfn|Strauss|1999|p=162}} By 1976, it had documents pertaining to 128 micronations and similar political entities.<ref name="NYT">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1976/03/28/archives/nations-off-the-beaten-track-a-world-of-tiny-nations.html|last=Bongartz|first=Roy|date=28 March 1976|title=Nations Off the Beaten Track|work=[[The New York Times]]|via=the New York Times Archives}}</ref> The earliest attested use of ''micronation'' in its current meaning appeared on 28 March 1976 in an article by ''[[the New York Times]]'' about the IMS.<ref name="NYT"/> The first use of ''micronation'' in a book was in an eponymous dedicated section of the 1978 ''[[The People's Almanac#2]]'' by [[David Wallechinsky]] and [[Irving Wallace]].<ref>{{cite book|last1=Wallechinsky|first1=David|last2=Irving|first2=Wallace|author1-link=David Wallechinsky|author2-link=Irving Wallace|year=1978|title=The People's Almanac #2|url=https://archive.org/details/peoplesalmanac200wall/page/330/mode/2up|publisher=[[William Morrow and Company]]|isbn=978-0-553-01137-1|pages=330–331}}</ref> In 1979, the first book about micronations, ''[[How to Start Your Own Country (book)|How to Start Your Own Country]]'', was published by [[Erwin S. Strauss]].{{sfn|Strauss|1999|loc="[[edition notice]]"}} The IMS contributed considerably to the work.{{sfn|Strauss|1999|page=II}} However, the word ''micronation'' is notably absent from the book. A second edition of the work was published in 1984 by [[Loompanics]], followed in 1999 by a third edition published by [[Paladin Press]].{{sfn|Strauss|1999|loc="[[edition notice]]"}} According to the [[Yearbook of International Organizations]], the IMS was disestablished in 1988.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://uia.org/s/or/en/1100018345|title=International Micropatrological Society (IMS)|date=n.d. |website=[[Union of International Associations]] (UIA)}}</ref>