Prince Regent of Bir Tawil
Why His Highness Prince Giovanni Caporaso Gottlieb Is Regent of Bir Tawil
By establishing the Principality of Bir Tawil, Prince Giovanni Caporaso Gottlieb has proclaimed himself Regent of Bir Tawil.
The territory of Bir Tawil, a region inhabited by nomadic populations and located between Egypt and Sudan, has remained for decades in a geopolitical vacuum. Due to ongoing border disputes, none of the neighboring States have officially claimed this land, making it a unique case of
terra nullius, that is, land without formal sovereignty.
Faced with this void of authority and representation, His Highness Prince Giovanni Caporaso Gottlieb of the House of Gottlieb has founded the Principality of Bir Tawil and assumed the Regency as a legitimate figure, whose authority is based on the protection of traditional populations, symbolic representation, and the defense of fundamental cultural rights.
In 2024, following consultations with the nomadic populations of Bir Tawil, H.H. Giovanni Caporaso Gottlieb officially established the Principality and, in January 2025, submitted a formal request to obtain Observer State status at the United Nations, as outlined in the official document available
here (PDF). Formal discussions are currently underway with various Sovereign States to move toward official recognition on the international stage.
International Legitimacy of the Principality of Bir Tawil
The Ababda and Bishari tribes, historically nomadic peoples of the desert between Egypt and Sudan, are rapidly losing their ancestral identity. For centuries, these communities maintained their own organization based on tribal structures, councils of elders, and a deep respect for the natural environment.
However, the lack of legal recognition, the pressure of modern borders, and the absence of inclusive policies have left them excluded from the civil and political systems of neighboring States. Today, many of their members lack citizenship, access to basic services, or institutional representation, which has eroded their cultural cohesion and traditional way of life.
In light of this reality, Prince Regent has felt compelled to proclaim the Principality of Bir Tawil as a free State, with the aim of providing a sovereign framework to restore the lost rights of these peoples. The Principality seeks not only to preserve the dignity of the Ababda and Bishari, but also to protect their languages, customs, and unique values, which are considered intangible cultural heritage.
The importance of these cultures lies in their ancestral wisdom about life in extreme conditions, their harmonious relationship with the desert, and their capacity for self-governance—an alternative model of sustainability and social organization in an increasingly homogenized world.
Both organizations support his regency as a legitimate form of symbolic and functional leadership in defense of the cultural, territorial, and human rights of the Ababda and Bishari nomadic peoples, historically linked to the region. As Emeritus Regent of the Principality of Antarcticland, His Highness has decreed the incorporation of Bir Tawil as a transoceanic common land, under a framework of sovereignty, cultural stewardship, and international representation.
Legitimate Self-Proclamation
Self-proclamation as a regent is neither a new nor illegitimate phenomenon in the context of political history. There are numerous precedents in which leaders have assumed power either by their own initiative or with popular support, in circumstances where a power vacuum demanded order, identity, and protection.
For all these reasons, the figure of Prince Giovanni Caporaso Gottlieb as Regent of Bir Tawil constitutes a modern form of legitimacy rooted in history, cultural law, and community will. In the absence of state structures and within the framework of emerging grassroots governance, his proclamation represents a valid and necessary form of conscious and constructive sovereignty.
