The Smallest House in Great Britain, also known as the Quay House, is a tourist attraction on the quay in Conwy, Wales. The 3.05 metre by 1.8 metre (10 feet by 6 feet) structure was used as a residence from the 16th century until 1900; as its name indicates, it is reputed to be Britain's smallest house.

The house was lived in until 1900, when the owner was a 6ft 3 inch fisherman named Robert Jones. The rooms were too small for him to stand up in fully and he was eventually forced to move out when the council declared the house unfit for human habitation. The house is still owned by his descendants. In June 2006, there was a 50% loss of tourists to the house because of the road work that was being done nearby.

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The Ryugyong Hotel is a skyscraper intended for use as a hotel in Sojang-dong, in the Potong-gang District of Pyongyang, North Korea. The hotel's name comes from one of the historic names for Pyongyang: Ryugyong, or "capital of willows". Its 105 stories rise to a height of 330 metres (1,100 ft), and it contains 360,000 square metres (3,900,000 sq ft) of floor space, making it the most prominent feature of the city's skyline and by far the largest structure in the country. It is currently the world's 28th tallest building. If completed on schedule, it would have become the world's tallest hotel.

Construction began in 1987 and ceased in 1992, due to the government's financial difficulties. The unfinished hotel remained untouched until April 2008, when construction resumed after being inactive for 16 years.

The building's plan for a large hotel was reportedly a Cold War response to the completion of the Westin Stamford Hotel in Singapore the previous year by a South Korean company, SsangYong Group. North Korean leadership envisioned the project as a channel for Western investors to step into the marketplace. A firm, the Ryugyong Hotel Investment and Management Co., was established to attract a hoped-for US$230 million in foreign investment. A representative for the North Korean government promised relaxed oversight, saying, "The foreign investors can even operate casinos, nightclubs or Japanese lounges if they want to."

The Ryugyong Hotel was designed to feature 105 stories, resembling a flattened and bent ziggurat. The exterior walls of the building were to be covered in mirrored glass, with 3,000 guest rooms and several disk-shaped floors near the top of the building to feature five revolving restaurants. Under the leadership of Kim Jong-il, construction on this pyramid-shaped hotel began in 1987 by the North Korean construction firm Baekdu Mountain Architects & Engineers. The reinforced concrete structure consists of three wings, the face of each wing measuring 100 m (328 ft) long and 18 m (59 ft) wide, which converge at a common point to form a pinnacle. At the top is a 40 m (131 ft) wide circular structure which contains eight floors intended to rotate, topped by a further six static floors. The hotel is surrounded by a number of pavilions, gardens, and terraces. Its walls slope at a steep 75 degree angle. It was added to maps and North Korean postage stamps before it was half-finished. Shortly after the building's concrete hardened, it was discovered that elevators would not be able to operate in its poorly-designed shafts

The hotel was scheduled to open in June 1989 for the World Festival of Youth and Students, but problems with building methods and materials delayed completion. Work ceased in 1992 due to electricity shortages, funding problems and the North Korean famine. Japanese newspapers estimated the cost of construction was US$750 million—equivalent to 2% of North Korea’s GDP. There had been some question about whether North Korea had the raw materials or energy for such a massive project. A government official said in 2008 that construction had previously been halted when funds ran out.

Though the basic structure was complete when construction came to a halt in 1992, the building shell sat vacant and without windows, fixtures, or fittings for 16 years. A rusting construction crane at the top assumed the role of a permanent fixture. Even though the hotel dominates the Pyongyang skyline, it has proven difficult to obtain information about the hotel or its future from North Korean sources. The problems associated with the hotel led some media sources to dub it "The Worst Building in the World", "Hotel of Doom" and "Phantom Hotel".

After 16 years of inactivity, foreign residents in Pyongyang noted that Egypt's Orascom Group started refurbishing the top floors of the hotel in April 2008. Though the effect on the architecture has yet to be determined, glass paneling and telecommunications antennas were observed being installed.

The Orascom Telecom subsidiary of the group confirmed involvement in the structure to begin developing GSM infrastructure in North Korea for up to 100,000 initial subscribers. Only government officials are currently permitted to use mobile phones and the service has been banned from use by ordinary citizens and foreigners since 2002.

In September 2008, Choe Jong Hun, an official with the Committee for Cultural Relations With Foreign Countries, said the refurbishing of the Ryugyong Hotel will be done by 2012 – the 100th anniversary of the birth of Kim Il Sung. At the same time, an Orascom company official said the goal of the project was to at least give the structure's facade a facelift and make it more attractive.

On December 22, 2008, photos of ongoing construction at the hotel appeared on the Internet. The exterior construction has included the installation of windows and a covering of the top (circular) floors.

In August 2009, photos appeared showing at least one side of the hotel completely clad in glass, along with the upper circular floors that were to house the revolving restaurants. In October 2009, a TVB Hong Kong news program confirmed that a single side of the hotel, along with the upper floors were the only parts of the hotel to be clad in glass.

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Some of the most beautiful natural arches and bridges from around the world:

Vallon-Pont-d'Arc - France

Vallon-Pont-d'Arc is a commune in the Ardèche department in south-eastern France. Vallon-Pont-d'Arc is a capital of prehistoric and cultural tourism. This small village, peaceful in wintertime, sees its population multiply 10 times in summer. Its touristic importance largely comes from the fact that it is the departure point for the descent of the gorge of the Ardèche river from Pont d'Arc to Saint-Martin-d'Ardeche.

Vallon-Pont-d'Arc is situated at the threshold of one of the most beautiful tourist sites of France: "les gorges de l'Ardèche" (the Ardèche canyon). The famous Pont d'Arc, a natural arch of more than 30 meters height, carved out by the Ardèche and classified as Great Site of France, gave it its name.

1.8 km (1.1 mi) southeast of the village, the river Ibie flows into the Ardèche, which forms all of the commune's south-western border.

Natural Bridge - Utah, USA

A natural arch or natural bridge is a natural formation (or landform) where a rock arch forms, with a natural passageway through underneath. Most natural arches form as a narrow ridge, walled by cliffs, become narrower from erosion, with a softer rock stratum under the cliff-forming stratum gradually eroding out until the rock shelters thus formed meet underneath the ridge, thus forming the arch. Natural arches commonly form where cliffs are subject to erosion from the sea, rivers or weathering (sub-aerial processes); the processes "find" weaknesses in rocks and work on them, making them bigger until they break through.

Rainbow Bridge - Utah

Rainbow Bridge National Monument is administered by Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, southern Utah, USA. Rainbow Bridge is often described as the world's largest natural bridge. The span of Rainbow Bridge is 275 feet (84 m), and at the top it is 42 feet (13 m) thick and 33 feet (10 m) wide. Two other natural arches, Kolob Arch and Landscape Arch, both also in southern Utah, have confirmed spans several meters longer than Rainbow Bridge, but by most definitions of the terms are described as arches but not bridges. With a height of 290 feet (88 m) Rainbow Bridge does indeed stand taller than either of its longer competitors, but it is outdone by Aloba Arch at 394 feet (120 m), which is in turn dwarfed by the world's tallest arch, Tushuk Tash in China at an estimated 1,200 feet (366 m). It is probably the most accessible of the large arches of the world, as it can be reached by a two-hour yacht ride on Lake Powell or by hiking several hours overland from a trailhead (obtain a permit from the Navajo Nation in Window Rock, Arizona).

Pravcicka Brana - Switzerland

This splendid rock formation is located in Bohemian Switzerland. This area is also known as Czech Switzerland, a picturesque region in the north-western Czech Republic.

Natural Bridge - Kentucky, USA

Natural Bridge State Park is a Kentucky state park located in Powell and Wolfe Counties along the Middle Fork of the Red River, adjacent to the Red River Gorge Geologic Area and surrounded by the Daniel Boone National Forest. Its namesake natural bridge is the centerpiece of the park. The natural sandstone arch spans 78 ft (24 m) and is 65 ft (20 m) high. The natural process of weathering formed the arch over millions of years. The park is approximately 2,300 acres (9 km2) of which approximately 1,200 acres (5 km2) is dedicated by the Kentucky State Nature Preserves Commission as a nature preserve. In 1981 this land was dedicated into the nature preserves system to protect the ecological communities and rare species habitat. The first federally endangered Virginia big eared bats, Corynorhinus townsendii virginianus, recorded in Kentucky were found at Natural Bridge State Park in the 1950s.

Azure Window - Malta

The Azure Window is a natural arch in the Maltese island of Gozo featuring a table-like rock over the sea. The Inland Sea, Gozo, and Dwejra Bay, were created millions of years ago when two limestone caves collapsed. This and the near by Blue Hole and Inland sea are popular scuba diving sites. Dwejra is a tourist village that belongs to the town of St. Lawrence, Gozo, Malta.

Turret Arch - Utah, USA

Our next beautiful and interesting natural arch formation is located also at Arches National Park and it is the Turret Arch.

El Arco de Cabo San Lucas - Mexico

El Arco de Cabo San Lucas, or Lands End, Cabo San Lucas is a distinctive rock formation at the southern tip of Cabo San Lucas, which is itself the extreme southern end of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula. The arch is usually known as El Arco in the town of Cabo San Lucas.

Skyline Arch - Utah, USA

Offcourse! - Utah ! Name of this beautiful arch is Skyline...

Arch of Akakus - Libya

Acacus Mountains or Tadrart Acacus is a mountain range in the desert of western Libya, part of the Sahara. They are situated east of the Libyan city of Ghat. They streach north from the Libyan border about 100 km. Tadrart means 'mountain' in the native language of the area (Tamahaq language). The area has a particularly rich array of prehistoric rock art.

Metate Caprock Arch - Utah, USA

Metate Arch is one of the main attractions of the Devils Garden natural area now part of the Escalante Grand Staircase National Monument in southern Utah. It is reached via the historic Hole in the Rock road and is about 18 miles southeast of Escalante, Utah.

The Wonderful Bridges - Bulgaria

The Wonderful Bridges is a rock formation in the Rhodope Mountains in southern Bulgaria. It is located in the Karst valley of the Erkyupryia River in the Western Rhodopes at 1,450 metres above sea level, at the foot of Persenk Peak. The "bridges" were formed by the erosive activity of the once high-water river. It transformed the marble clefts into a deep water cave, the ceiling of which whittled up through time and collapsed, allegedly during an earthquake. Geologists suppose that the water carried the debris away.

As a result, the two remaining bridge-shaped boulders remained. The large one (situated upstream) is 15 metres at its widest and 96 metres long, and shaped by three vault arches, the largest of which is 45 metres high and 40 metres wide. The Erkyupriya River flows under the middle-sized arch. The large Wonderful Bridge is passable under the vaults where birds nest in the marble clefts. The smaller bridge is located 200 metres downstream. It is unpassable, 60 metres in length, with a total height of 50 metres, 30 metres at the highest place of the arch. A third, very little and hardly reachable bridge-like formation follows, constituting the entrance of a pothole cave where the river waters disappear underground, and show back up after 3 km.

Double Arch - Utah, USA

Double Arch is a famous close-set pair of natural arches—one of the more impressive features of Arches National Park in Utah, USA. The arches are reached by a short walk (approx. 200 meters) from the area parking lot. There are no guardrails or fences to prevent visitors from exploring directly beneath and through the arches. The area was used as a backdrop for the opening scene of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, in which the arches are briefly visible. However, the cave shown in the movie does not exist.

Cerro de Arcos - Ecuador

The Cerro de Arcos (English: Hill of arches) is a windswept rock formation in the high paramo of the Ecuadorian southern sierra. It is situated on the border between the provinces El Oro and Loja, on the elevated plain between the Cordillera de Chilla and the Cordillera de Timbayacu at an altitude of 3700 m (12140f). The rock formation features towers, columns and several of the eponymous arches formed by wind and weather erosion. The formation covers an area of about 300 m by 300 m.

Landscape Arch - Utah, USA

The extraordinarily beautiful Landscape Arch is the world’s longest natural arch. The arch is among many in the area known as Devil’s Garden. The arch has a span of 290.1 ± 0.8 feet or 88.4 meters.

Durdle Door - England

Durdle Door is a natural limestone arch on the Jurassic Coast near Lulworth in Dorset, England. It is privately owned by the Welds, a wealthy landowning family who own 12,000 acres of Dorset in the form of the Lulworth Estate. It is open to the public. The name Durdle is derived from an Old English word 'thirl' meaning bore or drill.

Grosvenor Arch - Utah, USA

Grosvenor Arch is a unique sandstone double arch located within Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument in southern Utah. It is named to honor Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor (1875-1966), a president of the National Geographic Society, publishers of the National Geographic Magazine. Located in northern Kane County, it is close to and south of Kodachrome Basin State Park and is accessed from the north or south via Road 400, a dirt road that traverses Cottonwood Canyon, Utah and skirts the Grand Staircase on its western margin.

Delicate Arch - Utah, USA

The amazing and world-famous Delicate Arch is a freestanding natural arch located in Utah. It is the most widely- recognized landmark in Arches National Park and stands at 52 feet or 16 meters tall.

Natural Bridge - Wisconsin, USA

Natural Bridge State Park is an 530-acre (214 ha) Wisconsin state park featuring the largest natural arch in the state. Directly beneath the arch is a rock shelter once used by Paleo-Indians. The park is located southwest of Baraboo between the unincorporated communities of Leland and Denzer, in the town of Honey Creek.

Natural Bridge - California, USA

Natural Bridges State Beach is a protected area in Santa Cruz, California, featuring a natural bridge across a section of the beach. It is also well known as a hotspot to see monarch butterfly migrations.

Sewanee Natural Bridge - Tennessee, USA

Sewanee Natural Bridge in Franklin County, Tennessee, is a 25 feet (8 m) high natural sandstone arch with a span of 50 feet (15 m). It is essentially a giant sinkhole partially eroded to form a large stone bridge. A wet weather spring located behind the bridge in a rock cave probably contributed to the erosion forming the arch. It is called the Sewanee Natural Bridge as it was once owned by the University of the South in Sewanee, Tennessee. It is a 3 acre (12,000 m²) designated state natural area.

Cedar Tree Arch - Colorado, USA

Rattlesnake Canyon is a scenic area within the Black Ridge Canyons Wilderness which in turn forms the core of the Bureau of Land Management administered McInnis Canyons National Conservation Area in west central Colorado. The canyon contains 9 natural arches, the second highest concentration of such arches in the United States, after the much better known Arches National Park. Limited access and primitive facilities limit visitation and help preserve the wilderness in its natural state.

East Rim Arch - Colorado, USA

East Rim Arch (also known as Akiti Arch or Centennial Arch) has a span of 40 feet and an opening height of 120 feet.

Bridge Arch - Colorado, USA

Bridge Arch (also known as Hole-in-the-Bridge Arch) has a span of 40 feet and an opening height of 30 feet.

Natural Bridge - Virginia, USA

Natural Bridge, known by locals as Natty B, in Rockbridge County, Virginia is a geological formation in which Cedar Creek (a small tributary of the James River) has carved out a gorge in the mountainous limestone terrain, forming an arch 215 ft (66 m) high with a span of 90 ft (27 m). It consists of horizontal limestone strata, and is the remains of the roof of a cave or tunnel through which the creek once flowed. It is crossed by a public road, U.S. Highway 11. There are fences on either side of the highway, blocking the view from the top of the bridge. Natural Bridge has been designated a Virginia Historical Landmark and a National Historical Landmark.

Sipapu Natural Bridge - Utah, USA

Sipapu Bridge is a natural bridge or arch located in the Natural Bridges National Monument in the U.S. state of Utah. The bridge spans White Canyon. Sipapu was long reported to have a span of 268 feet by the National Park Service, ranking it as the fourth longest natural arch in the world. A more accurate measurement obtained by laser survey in 2007 revealed the measurement to be a significant overstatement. The Natural Arch and Bridge Society has published a revised span of 225 feet, demoting the arch to a seventh place ranking.

Kachina Bridge - Utah, USA

Kachina Bridge is one of three natural bridges in the Natural Bridges National Monument in Utah.

Owachomo Bridge - Utah, USA

Another spectacular geological formation located in Natural Bridges Monument is the Owachomo Bridge which means “rock mound” in Hopi and is named after the rock formation on top of the east end of the bridge.

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Lake Eyre is the lowest point in Australia, at approximately 15 m (49 ft) (AHD) below sea level, and, on the rare occasions that it fills, it is the largest lake in Australia. It is the focal point of the vast Lake Eyre Basin and is found some 700 km (435 mi) north of Adelaide.

The lake was named after Edward John Eyre who was the first European to sight it in 1840. It is located in the deserts of central Australia, in northern South Australia. The Eyre Basin is a large endorheic system surrounding the lakebed, the lowest part of which is filled with the characteristic salt pan caused by the seasonal expansion and subsequent evaporation of the trapped waters. Even in the dry season there is usually some water remaining in Lake Eyre, normally collecting in a number of smaller sub-lakes on the playa.

During the rainy season the rivers from the northeast (in outback Queensland) flow towards the lake through the Channel Country. The amount of water from the monsoon determines whether water will reach the lake and if it does, how deep the lake will get. In strong La Niña years the lake can fill. Since 1885 this has occurred in 1886–1887, 1889–1890, 1916–1917, 1950, 1955, 1974–1976 , with the highest flood of 6 m (20 ft) in 1974. Local rain can also fill Lake Eyre to 3–4 m (10–13 ft) as occurred in 1984 and 1989. Wave built shingle terraces on the shore suggest that during the Medieval Warm Period and centuries immediately prior Lake Eyre possibly held permanent water at levels above those of 1974. Torrential rain in January 2007 took about six weeks to reach the lake but put only a small amount of water into it.

When recently flooded the lake is almost fresh and native fresh water fish, including bony bream (Nematolosa erebi), the Lake Eyre Basin sub-species of golden perch (Macquaria ambigua) and various small hardyhead species (Craterocephalus spp.) can survive in it. The salinity increases as the 450 mm (18 in) salt crust dissolves over a period of six months resulting in a massive fish kill. When over 4 m (13 ft) deep the lake is no more salty than the sea and salinity increases as the water evaporates, with saturation occurring at about a 500 mm (20 in) depth. The Lake takes on a "pink" hue when saturated due to the presence of beta-Carotene pigment caused by the algae Dunaliella salina.

Typically a 1.5 m (5 ft) flood occurs every three years, a 4 m (13 ft) flood every decade, and a fill or near fill four times a century. The water in the lake soon evaporates with a minor and medium flood drying by the end of the following summer.

The 2009 Lake Eyre flood peaked at 1.5 m (5 ft) deep in late May which is a quarter of its maximum recorded depth of 6 m (20 ft). 9 km3 (2 cu mi) of water crossed the Queensland–South Australian border with most of it coming from massive floods in the Georgina River. However the greater proportion soaked into the desert or evaporated en route to the lake leaving less than 1 km3 (0.24 cu mi) in the lake which covered an area of 800 km2 (309 sq mi) or 12% of the lake. As the flood did not start filling the lake's deepest point (Belt Bay) until late March little bird life appeared preferring instead to nest in the upper reaches of the Lake Eyre Basin, north of Birdsville, where large lakes appeared in January as a result of monsoonal rain.

credited to wikipedia and flickr users: goody62, simonwaterhouse, gsketch2000, c_and_g, mitshellh53, nic_pepsi

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Ebenezer Place, in Wick, Caithness, Scotland, is credited by the Guinness Book of Records as being the world's shortest street at 2.06 m (6 ft 9 in). In 2006 it surpassed the previous record (5.2 m (17 ft)) set by Elgin Street, Lancashire. The street has only one address: the front door of No. 1 Bistro, which is part of Mackays Hotel

The street originated in 1883, when 1 Ebenezer Place was constructed; the owner of the building, a hotel at the time, was instructed to paint a name on the shortest side of the hotel. It was officially declared a street in 1887

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Many of the effects of global warming have been well-documented. It is the precise extent that is difficult to predict.

Ministry of Climate and Energy of Denmark

Predicting the consequences of global warming is one of the really difficult tasks for the world’s climate researchers. Firstly, because the natural processes that cause precipitation, storms, increases in sea level and other expected effects of global warming are dependent on many different factors. Secondly, because it is difficult to predict the size of the emissions of greenhouse gases in the coming decades, as this is determined to a great extent by political decisions and technological breakthroughs.

Many of the effects of global warming have been well-documented, and observations from real life are very much consistent with earlier predictions. It is the precise extent that is difficult to predict. Among the effects that can be predicted are:

More droughts and more flooding:

When the weather gets warmer, evaporation from both land and sea increases. This can cause drought in areas of the world where the increased evaporation is not compensated for by more precipitation. The extra water vapor in the atmosphere has to fall again as extra precipitation, which can cause flooding other places in the world.

Less ice and snow:

Glaciers are shrinking rapidly at present. The trend is for the ice to melt faster than estimated in the IPCC’s latest report. In areas that are dependent on melt water from mountain areas, this can cause drought and a lack of drinking water. According to the IPCC, up to a sixth of the world’s population lives in areas that will be affected by this.

More extreme weather incidents:

The warmer climate will most probably cause more heatwaves, more cases of heavy rainfall and also possibly an increase in the number and/or severity of storms.

Rising sea level:

The sea level rises for two reasons. Partly because of the melting ice and snow, and partly because of the thermal expansion of the sea. Thermal expansion takes a long time, but even an increase in temperature of two degrees Celsius is expected, in due time, to cause a rise in the water level of almost a metre.

In order to get an idea of the extent of the consequences, researchers typically work with scenarios that show various possible developments.

credited to United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen official site

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The Principality of Sealand is a micronation located on HM Fort Roughs, a former World War II Maunsell Sea Fort in the North Sea 10 km (six miles) off the coast of Suffolk, England.

Since 1967, the facility has been occupied by former radio broadcaster British Army Major Paddy Roy Bates; his associates and family claim that it is an independent sovereign state. External commentators generally classify Sealand as a micronation. It has been described as the world's smallest nation. Sealand is not currently officially recognized as a sovereign state by any United Nations member.

In 1943, during World War II, HM Fort Roughs was constructed by the United Kingdom as one of the Maunsell Forts, primarily for defense against German mine-laying aircraft that might be targeting the estuaries that were part of vital shipping lanes. It comprised a floating pontoon base with a superstructure of two hollow towers joined by a deck upon which other structures could be added. The fort was towed to a position above the Rough Sands sandbar, where its base was intentionally flooded to allow it to sink to its final resting place on the sandbar. The location chosen was in international waters, approximately six miles from the coast of Suffolk, outside the then three-mile territorial water claim of the United Kingdom. The facility (called Roughs Tower or HM Fort Roughs) was occupied by 150–300 Royal Navy personnel throughout World War II; not until well after the war, in 1956, were the last full-time personnel taken off HM Fort Roughs.

Occupation by Roy Bates and the establishment of Sealand

On 2 September 1967, the fort was occupied by Major Paddy Roy Bates, a British subject and pirate radio broadcaster, who ejected a competing group of pirate broadcasters. Bates intended to broadcast his pirate radio station Radio Essex from the platform.

In 1968, the Royal Navy entered what Bates claimed to be his territorial waters in order to service a navigational buoy near the platform. Michael Bates (son of Paddy Roy Bates) tried to scare the workmen off by firing warning shots from the former fort. As Bates was a British subject at the time, he was summoned to court in England following the incident. The court ruled that as the platform (which Bates was now calling "Sealand") was outside British jurisdiction, being beyond the then three-mile limit of the country's waters, the case could not proceed. In 1975, Bates introduced a constitution for Sealand, followed by a flag, a national anthem, a currency and passports.

Forcible takeover

In 1978, while Bates was away, Alexander Achenbach, who describes himself as the Prime Minister of Sealand, and several German and Dutch citizens staged a forcible takeover of Roughs Tower, holding Bates' son Michael captive, before releasing him several days later in the Netherlands. Bates thereupon enlisted armed assistance and, in a helicopter assault, retook the fort. He then held the invaders captive, claiming them as prisoners of war. Most participants in the invasion were repatriated at the cessation of the "war", but Achenbach, a German lawyer who held a Sealand passport, was charged with treason against Sealand and was held unless he paid DM 75,000 (more than US$ 35,000). The governments of the Netherlands and Germany petitioned the British government for his release, but the United Kingdom disavowed all responsibility, citing the 1968 court decision. Germany then sent a diplomat from its London embassy to Roughs Tower to negotiate for Achenbach's release. Roy Bates relented after several weeks of negotiations and subsequently claimed that the diplomat's visit constituted de facto recognition of Sealand by Germany. Following his repatriation, Achenbach established a "government in exile" in Germany, in opposition to Roy Bates, assuming the name "Chairman of the Privy Council". He handed the position to Johannes Seiger in 1989 because of illness. Seiger continues to claim—via his website—that he is Sealand's legitimate ruling authority.

Post-1990

• 1990: The Royal Maritime Auxiliary vessel Golden Eye was fired upon from Sealand in defence of their claim to the waters surrounding Roughs Tower to the extent of twelve nautical miles.

• 1997: Because of the massive quantity of illegal passports in circulation (estimated at 150,000), the Bates family revoked all Sealand passports, including those that they themselves had issued over the previous twenty-two years.

• 2006: On the afternoon of 23 June 2006, the top platform of the Roughs Tower caught fire due to an electrical failure. A Royal Air Force rescue helicopter transferred one person to Ipswich hospital, directly from the tower. The Harwich lifeboat stood by the Roughs Tower until a local fire tug extinguished the fire. All damage was repaired by November 2006.

• In January 2007, The Pirate Bay attempted to buy Sealand after harsher copyright measures in Sweden forced it to look for a base of operations elsewhere. The deal fell through.

• 2007: Sealand was offered for sale through Spanish estate company InmoNaranja.Since a principality cannot technically be sold, Sealand's current owners plan to transfer "custodianship". The asking price is €750 million (£600 million). Plans for an online casino have been announced.

• In January 2009, The Kingdom of Marduk claimed ownership of Sealand, saying it was not mentioned in treaties after the Second World War and so can be claimed by anyone. Michael Bates dismissed the claim as that of an "imposter", and Sealand News said, "Marduk has popped up before".

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