491. Imtiland next to Hakkania Mannania

Foreign Policy magazine published an interesting article on how to start your own country in four easy steps. I was very inspired by the article, and decided to start not one country, mind you, but two: One would be called Imtiland (the visible piece of me) and the other Hakkania Mannania (the property submerged under clothing).

So, here are the UN eligibility criteria, from FP:

1. You must have a defined territory.
2. You must have a permanent population.
3. You must have a government.
4. Your government must be capable of interacting with other states. (This one is somewhat controversial. It was included as a qualification in the 1933 Montevideo Convention, which established the United States’ “good neighbor” policy of nonintervention in Latin America, but is generally not recognized as international law.)

Hmm, the idiom, my body is my temple, maybe the key to solving point one. Do myself qualify as a permanent population?

Now, let's look at the other steps that one needs to follow:

Step 2. Declare Independence: (Check)
Step 3. Get recognized. (Hmm.)
Step 4. Join the club by writing to Ban Ki Moon, Secretary-General, The United Nations, First Ave. at 46th St., New York, NY 10017 (really?)

Here's another fun requirement:

"The Security Council must refer you to the General Assembly, which must determine by a two-thirds majority that you are a “peace-loving state” that can carry out the duties of the UN Charter."

Oh well, maybe Imtiland will have to wait.

P.S.
Hakkania, btw, has been my favorite guilty phrase from high school geekdom. My dad went to Korea and brought back an audio tape of korean folk music. The first song started with a scream that sounded like, "Hakkania Madrasa", and we would vocally add some noise similar to "tarang, tarang, tarang, tarang" to emulate the song. As much as I've grown to love korean food, I'd think twice about that music.