Wirtland [‘v¡rtlənd] claims to be the world’s first internet-based sovereign country. Wirtland is an experiment into legitimacy and self-sustainability of a country without its own soil. A “virtual land” that will soon offer it’s own real gold coin.
The term “Wirtland” obviously comes from “virtual land”. It means literally that the country’s land (soil) is virtual. That is the correct understanding of Wirtland – a real country with real people, with the only thing virtual – the soil. It is not correct to interpret Wirtland as an imaginary virtual world.
Wirtland was founded on August 14, 2008 as a public initiative. It is represented through its official website. Currently Wirtland is governed by Chancellor, and aims to become a parliamentary democracy.
Population consists of citizens of Wirtland (Witizens) and tourists. Everyone can apply for becoming a citizen. A letter of interest with self-introduction to web (at) wirtland.com is required to issue a residence permit or a passport. Wirtland offers equal democratic rights and does not discriminate on the basis of national origin, age, religion, race, gender.
Wirtland aims to become economically self-sustaining. Wirtland is building communities, which will offer political and economic benefits, generate new employment opportunities and income, provide new sources of artistic creativity and independent opinion-sharing.
At times of world economic crisis Wirtland wants to offer useful economic instruments to citizens, addressing the problem of personal savings’ safety. It is central in most countries today, when the future of national currencies – even those which used to be the most stable yesterday – is unclear and shaky. There are just a few options how to preserve savings, and even fewer in case your sum is not very large. One of logical solutions is purchasing gold. It’s not surprising that, according to Reuters, “Mints around the world say demand for gold coins has risen sharply as interest in the precious metal soars on the back of financial instability and concerns over the inflation outlook… The chairman of the French Mint, Christophe Beaux, said sales roughly doubled last year in value terms and are expected to rise by another 50 percent this year. The 2009 catalog the mint had produced was almost entirely pre-sold, he said.”
Wirtland found an interesting solution within the limited choice of options it possesses being an unrecognized cybercountry. Wirtland plans to mint its own gold coin. The quality and weight of gold will be guaranteed, so the new coin will meet the demands of people, who will be able to use it as an investment tool. Formally, Wirtland’s coin will have status similar to collectible or commemorative coins and medals. Wirtland has an agreement with a private producer of such objects, who is ready to mint the coins according to Wirtland’s design and requirements, and sell them online. Wirtland opened contests for the best design and name of the coin, and a poll to define optimal weight/price of the coin. Once the price is established, Wirtland will start accepting advance orders for the new coin.
