Principality of Sealand is an acclaimed country but it has never been official recognized internationally. Although the founder think it is a country, there are only 22 citizens altogether, and its territory is just a floating platform on the North Sea.
Interesting enough though, the founding of Principality of Sealand prompts us to think about the essence of a country on a large scale and community or institution on a small scale.
The definition of country that I have learned in my earlier education is that country is an abstract concept that encapsulates the idea that a group of people with common identity united together. In that sense, what might be the essential element of a country? It seems to me that getting recognized by other groups of people (ie. countries), is not an essential element to forming a country at all.