SPAIN

SPAIN / ESPAÑA.

Centenary of the Royal Geographic Society (Real Sociedad Geográfica).
Map of Mediterranean and North Africa, from the Islario General (1541) by Alonso de Santa Cruz.
Minisheet issued on 01.10.2003.
Face value: 1.85 euro.
Printing: Offset lithography and recess.
Printed by Real Casa de la Moneda - Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre, Madrid.
Print: 600,000 copies.
Size: 105 x 78 mm.

Catalogs
- Edifil No. 4021.
- Michel No. BL120.
- StampWorld No. 3888.
- Stanley Gibbons No. MS 3993.
- Yvert et Tellier No. BF 119.

The Real Sociedad Geográfica (Royal Geographical Society) is an association created under the name of Sociedad Geográfica de Madrid (Madrid Geographical Society) in 1876, with the aim of disseminating geographic knowledge and research and study of it, mainly in Spain and the countries linked to it for cultural or linguistic reasons. On February 18, 1901, it was renamed with the current name of Real Sociedad Geográfica. During the Second Spanish Republic, between 1931 and 1939, its name was the Sociedad Geográfica Nacional (National Geographic Society). It is a member of the International Geographical Union (IGU), the European Association for Geography (EUGEO) and the European Association of Geographers (EUROGEO).

The Islario General de todas las Islas del Mundo (General Islarian of all the Islands of the World), known simply as Islario General, is a geography text in four volumes by Alonso de Santa Cruz Produced in 1542 at the request of King Philip II. It is composed of eight regional maps and 103 local maps, and a map of Mexico. The map reproduced on the stamp is a fragment of Plate III of the work.