There is only one person living in Jan Mayen, and they're both the monarch of the country and enslaving themselves.

It must be a disillusioned exile, the last survivor of a company that attempted to escape their previous lives for a better one in the new world.

Unfortunately, they got ship-wrecked on some island, unaware if they made it.

Upon the realization of being lost, the remaining few created a new nation as an inside joke to combat the resulting depression of failing their initial plan and surviving the first polar bear attack.

Frozen death in complete isolation awaits this poor soul. This is the story of Jan Mayen.

That’s just male population. His wife is the monarch and her husband is her slave

The monarch doesn't have his permanent residency there. He lives in Svalbard and checks in on his slave a few times each year.

R5 : jan mayen has a population of 1, all of them are slaves, but is a monarchy

The man woke up and looked out of the window. It was sunny outside, which meant he could count that he would have natural light for the next three hours. He knew he didn't have time to waste, but yet he sat in the bed, if you could call it that, and gave into thoughts.

When Jan Mayen monarchy first declared independence, he was there. He and a group of around twenty to thirty adventurous young men, some with their families, aiming to craft a primal utopia, where they would live as their forefathers have. An idealistic, incredibly foolish idea, in retrospect. But the faith and the sheer willpower made it a reality. Government of Norway was happy enough to sell it's far off northern island to a group of wealthy people who apparently suffered from too much boredom.

But the group soon found that the survival in Arctic environment was even more difficult than they have imagined. Jan Mayen was no tropical island. Life conditions were abysmal. But the group carried on with superhuman motivation. Everyone served in the "military", which served more for fending off the kingdom's principal adversaries, polar bears, than anything, everyone worked fishing to provide for the food. And, most importantly, everyone agreed on the Constitution.

The man looked with something resembling a smile on the aged book to his left, "Constitution of Kingdom of Jan Mayen". Truly, a work of art, he thought. Head of the State was the King, but his powers were limited by the parliament consisting of all of the islands inhabitants. Capital punishment was not an option, but repeated offenses could lead to the greatest consequence of all - expulsion.

Funnily enough, the greatest punishment soon became the desired salvation. Motivation only gets you so far, and when the kingdom began sustaining first casualties, the magic of the place began to break down. In the matter of weeks only most persevering remained, the rest having succumbed to frostbite or having left, shamelessly picking apart the royal navy. Finally, the king and his wife were the last ones beside the man to stay on the island, but only one boat that could carry two remained.

As the last act of loyalty to a dying state, the man graciously offered king to escape first, under condition that he would send evacuation crew as soon as he arrived to a first settlement. But the king had a better idea.

"Listen", he said "the Kingdom is not dead. This setback is temporary. Now we have experience, and we know who we can trust. We will start over. But we need money to get there. Until then, here is what I think. We have two things from here that we can sell - fish and gravel. I thought that maybe you could gather these two, and I'll send a boat to pick them up every week, which will also have supplies for you. Legally, I'll abdicate and leave you as the king, and then I can sign the contract with you as representative of Jan Mayen government."

"For how long?"

"I don't know, until we make money from it. Don't worry, if it doesn't work, I'll come back and pick you up. But it has to work. In months, I'll be back with hundred more trusted men, and Renaissance will come here."

He agreed. He couldn't have said no. He waved at the boat as it disappeared into the horizon.

And that was the last human he saw in seven years, if we don't count not very talkative liaison who came to pick up the resources and left him newspapers, food, drinking water, clothes, and sometimes, a letter from the king. From what he could tell, he was well off. He made some money off of their business, but he didn't think it was enough - yet the most energetic promises continued in written form.

The man had plenty of time to think about his situation. It was funny how he was effectively a serf for his friend, working for his business in exchange for life supplies. But there was nothing he could do. There was no way out, unless he boarded the liaison's boat, but there was little probability that would be allowed. All he could do is to toil away tirelessly, in effort to earn his bread, and continue this dubious deal, in hopes it will lead towards something. The kingdom's restoration, or just anything.

Sometimes, he just wished he had a choice. But there was none, other than death. Sometimes, he thought death was preferable to the miserable, uncertain, solitary, dependent life he was living.

But he must not surrender.

Not today.

For the kingdom and for the Constitution.

The man got up from the bed and opened the door of his shack. There were couple of hours of daylight left, and he was going to use them.

He is a serf, a monarch, and the ducking senate itself.