NORTH BORNEO

NORTH BORNEO (now in Malaysia).

Definitive stamps.
Mount Kinabalu and portrait of Queen Elizabeth II.
First stamp in a set of 15, issued on 01.10.1954.
Face value: 1 cent of Malaya and British Borneo dollar.
Printing: Photogravure.
Size: 34 x 28 mm.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 294.
- Scott No. 261.
- StampWorld No. 309.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 372.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 296.

North Borneo was a British protectorate located in the northern part of the island of Borneo. The territory of North Borneo was originally established by concessions from the Sultanates of Brunei and Sulu in 1877 and 1878 to a German-born representative of Austria-Hungary, the businessman and diplomat Gustav Overbeck. The Madrid Protocol, signed in 1885 by the United Kingdom, Germany and Spain to recognize the Spanish presence in the Philippine archipelago, established the definitive border of Spanish influence in the area. To avoid further claims from other European powers, in 1888 North Borneo became a British protectorate. During World War II, Japan occupied the entire island of Borneo, and after the surrender of its troops, on August 15, 1945, the direction of northern Borneo was taken by the British Military Administration and officially became a colony of the United Kingdom, until September 16, 1963, when the Federation of Malaysia proclaimed independence, which incorporated the territory.

Mount Kinabalu (in Malay, Gunung Kinabalu) is located in the Kinabalu National Park (declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 2000) in the state of Sabah, which occupies the northern part of Borneo. It has a height of 4,095 m (13,435 ft) above sea level and is the highest mountain in Insulindia. It was climbed for the first time in March 1851 by the Englishman Hugh Low, who gave its name to its summit.

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Thanks to Dragan Buškulić for his contribution.