NEW ZEALAND

NEW ZEALAND / AOTEAROA.

Landscapes.
Mount Egmont / Taranaki.
Fifth stamp in a set of 6, issued on 01.05.1996.
Face value: 40 cents of New Zealand dollar.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Size: 30 x 25 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 1521.
- Scott No. 1358.
- StampWorld No. 1564.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1984.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1465.

Mount Taranaki / Mount Egmont is a dormant stratovolcano on the west coast of the North Island of New Zealand. It is the second highest point on the island after Mount Ruapehu. The 2,518-meter (8,260-foot) mountain has a secondary cone on its south side, the 1,966-meter (6,450-foot) Fanthams Peak (Maori: Panitahi). Taranaki is geologically young, and began its activity approximately 135,000 years ago. The most recent volcanic activity was the production of a lava dome in the crater between the 1850s and 1860s. In 1865, the mountain was confiscated from the Maori by the New Zealand government, and was not returned to them until 1978. In 1900 the mount, with the nearby volcanic remains, was listed as Egmont National Park (Maori: Te Papakura or Taranaki). James Cook named it Mount Egmont on January 11, 1770 in honor of John Perceval, 2nd Earl of Egmont, who had supported the oceanic search for Terra Australis Incognita.