Explorer declares himself 'king' of unclaimed no man's land
An Indian adventurer has declared himself the ruler of an unclaimed strip of land in North Africa and is encouraging interested parties to apply for citizenship.
Suyash Dixit travelled hundreds of miles to Bir Tawil, an 800 square mile piece of uninhabited land between Egypt and Sudan that neither country has claimed.
Bir Tawil is the only place on Earth where humans can live and survive that is not a part of any state or country, with the boundary quirk occurring as a result of a border drawn up by the British in 1899.
The new "ruler" faced a perilous journey after spending two nights planning his trip into the desert and convincing a local driver to take him to the remote outpost.
“The route that I took is under Egyptian military control and is an area of terrorists so military have 'shoot at sight' orders,” he explained.
“But, if your bucket list ideas are not scary enough then they are not worth trying! You need permissions to even enter the route to this place.
“We [had] three conditions; no photos of military areas, be back in a single day and no valuables.”
The intrepid explorer drove for six hours to plant a flag and some seeds in the desert land to establish the Kingdom of Dixit and name himself the king.
“Following the early civilisation ethics and rules, if you want to claim a land then you need to grow crops on it. I have added a seed and poured some water on it today. It is mine,” he said.
“The dawn of our nation begins as a blank slate in an arid, desolate desert. Through the charity of the world community and the disciples of modern science, we will construct the most fertile, ecologically sensitive nation on Earth.
“I am the king! This is no joke, I own a country now! Time to write an email to UN.”
King Dixit is not the first person to claim the land. In 2014 an American father travelled to the desert land with the aim of making his daughter a princess of the Kingdom of North Sudan’
However, under international law, only a state can assert sovereignty over territory, law expert Anthony Arend previously told the Washington Post.
