Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia
(Redirected from Araucania and Patagonia)
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| Motto: Independencia y Libertad (English: Independence and Liberty) | |
| Anthem: None | |
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| Type of entity: | Micronation |
| Location: | Southern Chile and Argentina |
| Area: | tba |
| Membership: | tba |
| Date of foundation: | 1860 |
| Leadership: | Prince Felipe (1952- ) |
| Purported organisational structure: | Constitutional monarchy |
| Language: | Mapuche and French |
| Purported currency: | Peso |
The Kingdom of Araucania and Patagonia (also called New France) was a self-proclaimed independent state or micronation founded by a French lawyer and adventurer named Orelie-Antoine de Tounens in southern South America in the mid 19th century. At the time the local indigenous Mapuche population were engaged in a desperate armed struggle to retain their independence in the face of hostile military and economic encroachment by the governments of Chile and Argentina, who coveted the Mapuche lands for their agricultural potential.
History
His efforts at securing international recognition for the Mapuche were thwarted by the Chilean and Argentinian governments, who captured, imprisoned and then deported him on several occasions. He did not receive further punishment because he was deemed to be insane by Chilean and Argentinian authorities. King Orelie-Antoine I eventually died penniless in France in 1878 after years of fruitless struggle to regain his perceived legitimate authority over his conquered kingdom.
The first Araucanian king's present-day successor, Prince Felipe, lives in France and has renounced his predecessor's claims to the Kingdom, but he has kept alive the memory of Orelie-Antoine, and lent continued support to the ongoing struggle for Mapuche self-determination by authorising the minting of forty or so coins in cupronickel, silver, gold and palladium since 1988.
Monarchs
- King Orélie Antoine I (1860-1878)
- King Aquiles I (1878-1902)
- King Antonio II (1902-1903)
- Queen Laura Teresa I (1903-1916)
- King Antonio III (1916-1952)
- Prince Felipe (1952 - present)
See also
External link
Categories
1860 establishments | Micronations | Patagonia | History of Argentina | History of Chile | Former monarchies of South America