What happens if a new volcanic island forms in the middle of the ocean, outside of any nation's borders? Could someone theoretically claim it and start their own sovereign nation?
Since every country claims a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone already, it's pretty unlikely that a new island will form that far from existing land.
Now I'm curious, how does this work with man-made islands? As in, can I build a really big raft/barge, tow it out to one of these areas that are unclaimed, anchor it down, and call it my own nation? Given of course that it'd be a hell of an engineering project, and getting resources out there would be a total pain, but is such a thing legally feasible? Or am I better of just buying a cruise ship that never docks?
Google "arcology". It's a portmanteau of architecture and ecology. It's not a new idea, but there hasn't yet been the right combination of technology, money, and motivation.
Also see wikipedia "principality of sealand". Some british nut tested a lot of the legal precedents. Short version, it totally works, although there was that one time his nation was conquered by mercenaries hired by a german lawyer, and his son was taken hostage. So, self defense is a very real concern.
It seems debatable whether a man made island is allowed to be a country. However you don't get your own territorial waters with an artificial island, which would make things very difficult.
Given that, there is no benefit to leaving exclusion zone. You can just set up in international waters much closer to shore.
I visited the capital of Tonga in 2009. It's a nice place and the locals are very friendly. If I had to choose an island nation to live on, I would choose Tonga.
When I was briefly there, the locals weren't exposed to much gadetry, just basic cell phones. I had an iPhone then, and I was able to connect to a palace's unsecured WiFi.
It will be fascinating to see what kind of objective measurements we'll be able to get out of it in future decades--biological diversity, erosion properties, etc.
Reports (e.g. [1], linked from the volcano/island's Wikipedia) suggest that the island will probably erode away quickly, as it is composed mainly of volcanic ash. If it does not, what you suggest would indeed be interesting to observe.
> The island, about 65 kilometres south-west of the main island of Tongatapu and the nation's capital, Nuku'alofa, started forming in January after a volcano began erupting.
