Officially launched last year, the population of the "space nation" of Asgardia has surpassed 145,000 citizens, including thousands of Arabs.
With the number of citizens growing constantly, the nation already boasts a larger population than Monaco, Liechtenstein, and San Marino combined. In early November, Asgardia's official website announced that it ranked 174th in population when compared to all other Earth-connected nations.
With more than 3,500 Arabs among Asgardia's growing population, Arabic is also considered one of the nation's official languages, although English is the main working language.
Earlier this month, Asgardia's first satellite – Asgardia-1 – entered low earth orbit, a milestone for the young ambitious community. The satellite was transported aboard the Cygnus cargo spacecraft and has docked at the International Space Station.
"After completing scheduled operations whilst attached to the ISS, Cygnus will be maneuvered to a higher orbit and the Asgardia-1 satellite released into its own independent orbit," Asgardia said in an official statement.
"Activation of Asgardia's-1 on-board systems for autonomous operation is scheduled for mid December 2017."
Asgardia is “the prototype of a free and unrestricted society” where the citizens remain on earth (no one’s going to outer space just yet), but will hold citizenship in this other-worldly state. The team behind Asgardia says it plans to become a member of the United Nations, with its own flag and anthem.
The space nation was launched in October 2016 by Russian businessman and scientist Igor Ashurbeyli, along with a team of scientists and legal experts.
“You can join like-minded people on this new exciting step in fostering an extended future for humankind," the nation said.
According to its website, Asgardia was "created with three top goals in mind: to ensure the peaceful use of space, to protect the Earth from space hazards, and to create a demilitarized and free scientific base of knowledge in space. Asgardia also has a long-term objective of setting up habitable platforms in space and building settlements on the Moon."
"The ultimate goal of Asgardia is to protect Earth from space threats."
While Asgardia has not achieved official recognition, the constant growth of its population demonstrates clear international interest in its future development. Currently, citizens interact online, governed by a clearly outlined constitution and elections in process.
Citizenship is also free, and as per the constitution, children of citizens are automatically granted citizenship as well. As of now, United States, Turkey, and China lead with the most citizens joining the space nation.
More than 25,000 Europeans from across the continent have also signed up to be part of the futuristic project.
Here's a look at the breakdown of Arab citizens of Asgardia:
- United Arab Emirates (546)
- Egypt (521)
- Morocco (466)
- Saudi Arabia (425)
- Syria (281)
- Iraq (204)
- Algeria (181)
- Jordan (146)
- Tunisia (129)
- Lebanon (116)
- Yemen (90)
- Qatar (79)
- Kuwait (77)
- Palestine (69)
- Sudan (54)
- Oman (44)
- Bahrain (42)
- Libya (31)
- Somalia (18)
- Djibouti (3)
- Mauritania (3)