FIJI

FIJI / VITI - फ़िजी.

Tourism.
Wakaya Island.
Last stamp in a set of 4, issued on 18.08.1980.
Face value: 50 Fijian cents.
Printing: Offset lithography.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 427.
- Scott No. 433.
- StampWorld No. 446.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 603.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 420.

Wakaya is a privately owned island in Fiji’s Lomaiviti Archipelago. It covers an area of 8 km² (3 sq mi). The island was bought in 1973 by David Gilmour, a gold-mining entrepreneur who has developed the island, building 22 kilometres of roads, a freshwater reservoir, an airstrip, a marina, jetty, village, church, gym and school. Gilmour also developed the Wakaya Club, an exclusive resort in northwest of island.

UNITED STATES

UNITED STATES.

Defense of the Corregidor Island, Manila Bay, Philippines.
Air view of the island.
Stamp issued on 27.09.1944.
Face value: 3 cents of US dollar.
Printing: Recess.
Print: 50,000,000 copies.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 528.
- Scott No. 925.
- StampWorld No. 733.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 922.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 474.

Corregidor Island (Tagalog: Pulo ng Corregidor) is an island located at the entrance of Manila Bay in the southwestern part of Luzon in the Philippines. Its surface area is 5.49 km² (2.12 sq mi), and its maximum height is 179.5 m (589 ft). Due to this location, Corregidor has historically been fortified with coastal artillery batteries to defend the entrance of Manila Bay and Manila itself from attacks by enemy warships. During World War II, the island played an important role during the invasion and liberation of the Philippines from the Imperial Japanese Army. The island was heavily bombarded during the later part of the war, where the ruins serve as a military memorial to American, Filipino, and Japanese soldiers who served and lost their lives on the battlefield.

HONG KONG

HONG KONG / 香港

Commemoration of the opening the Lantau Link.
The viaducts in the South China Sea.
Minisheet issued on 18.05.1997.
Face value: 5 Hong Kong dollars.
Design: Mayer Chan.
Printing: Photogravure.
Size: 130 x 75 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. BL53A.
- Scott No. 791a.
- StampWorld No. 836.
- Stanley Gibbons No. MS892.
- Yvert et Tellier No. BF52.

The Lantau Link (Chinese: 青嶼幹線) is a roadway in Hong Kong forming part of Route 8 linking Lantau Island to Tsing Yi, from which other roads lead to the urban areas of Kowloon and the rest of the New Territories. Part of the Airport Core Programme centred on the new Hong Kong International Airport on Lantau, the link was officially opened on 27 April 1997, and it opened to traffic on 22 May the same year. The Lantau Link is 3.5 km (2.2 mi) long.

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Thanks to Dragan Buškulić for his contribution (https://worldofstamp2.wordpress.com/).

SOVIET UNION

SOVIET UNION / СОЮЗ СОВЕТСКИХ СОЦИАЛИСТИЧЕСКИХ РЕСПУБЛИК.

Active Volcanoes of Kamchatka.
Karymsky Volcano.
Second stamp in a set of 3, issued on 30.11.1965.
Face value: 12 Soviet kopek.
Design: Lev M. Sharov.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 4,000,000 copies.
Size: 24 x 52 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 3116.
- Michel No. 3139.
- Scott No. 3118.
- StampWorld No. 2938.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 3211.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 3034.
- Zagorsky No. 3190.

Karymsky (Russian: Карымская сопка) is an active stratovolcano of the eastern ridge of the Kamchatka Peninsula. Its absolute height is 1,469 m (4,820 ft), and its top is a regular truncated cone. It is a very active volcano, more than twenty eruptions have been recorded since 1852.

FRANCE

FRANCE.

Landscapes.
The New Royan (Charente-Maritime).
Third stamp in a set of 6, issued on 05.06.1954.
Face value: 10 French francs.
Design: André-Spitz (1883-1977).
Engraving: Pierre Munier (1889-1962).
Printing: Recess.
Print: 110.090,000 copies.
Size: 40 x 26 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 1016.
- Michel No. 1006.
- Scott No. 721.
- StampWorld No. 999.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1207.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 978.

Royan is a commune and town in the south-west of France, in the department of Charente-Maritime, located on the peninsula of Arvert, at the mouth of the Gironde estuary on its eastern shore. Capital of the Côte de Beauté, Royan is one of the main French Atlantic coastal resort towns, and has five beaches, a marina for over 1,000 boats, and an active fishing port. The town had 18,499 inhabitants in 2018. Allied bombing between September 1944 and April 1945 destroyed the town. Known then as the “martyred city”, it was declared a “Laboratory of research on urbanism”, and it is now a showcase of the Modern architecture of the 1950s. It was classified as a Town of Art and History (Ville d'Art et d'Histoire) in 2010.

BOTSWANA

BOTSWANA.

Mail Runners.
Map of a section of the Mafeking-Gubulawayo postal route, 1888.
Third stamp in a set of 4, issued on 21.08.1972.
Face value: 7 cents of Botswana pula.
Printing: Offset lithography.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 90.
- Scott No. 90.
- StampWorld No. 85.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 296.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 242.

The history of the postal services in Botswana starts with the first attempts at establishment of such a service being inaugurated by Sir Charles Grey, governor of the Cape, as far back as 1860. Around 1875 the London Missionary Society established its own runner service north of Bulawayo, through Tatitown and Shoshong, linking with another private runner service operated by the Shoshong missionaries and Chief Khama; this in turn ran south to Dinokana, where it linked up with the postal service of the the Republic of South Africa. By the mid-1880's the service was handling up to 8000 letters annually. After the protectorate had been declared, the first official service administered from Vryburg commenced in 1888, covering the area from Mafeking (via Kanye and Molepolele) to Bulawayo. A year later, with the establishment of a mule cart service, the runners were laid off.

YUGOSLAVIA (Bosnia and Herzegovina)

YUGOSLAVIA (Bosnia and Herzegovina) / JUGOSLAVIJA (Bosna i Herzegovina).

Commemoration of the Battle of Sutjeska (1943).
Suha Gorge.
Stamp issued on 03.07.1963.
Face value: 25 Yugoslav dinari.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 2,000,000 copies.
Size: 26 x 38 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel, Yugoslavia No. 1047.
- Scott, Yugoslavia No. 702.
- StampWorld, Yugoslavia No. 1082.
- Stanley Gibbons, Yugoslavia No. 1087.
- Yvert et Tellier, Yugoslavia No. 944.

The Battle of Sutjeska (Bitka na Sutjesci) or "Operation Schwarz" was a joint attack by the Axis Powers that took place from May 15 to June 16, 1943, during the WWII, and aimed at destroying the main Yugoslav partisan force near the Sutjeska River in southeastern Bosnia and Herzegovina. Despite the heavy losses suffered, the Battle of Sutjeska has been considered by Yugoslav historiography as one of the greatest victories in its history. It was also the last major joint German-Italian operation against the partisans.

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Thanks to Dragan Buškulić for his contribution (https://worldofstamp2.wordpress.com/).

MOLDOVA

MOLDOVA

Issue EUROPA C.E.P.T. 2020: Ancient Postal Routes.
Map of the first postal air routes, 1926.
Second stamp in a sef of 2, issued on 17.08.2020.
Face value: 11 Moldovan lei.
Design: Vitaly Pogolsha.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 4,000 copies.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 1131.
- Scott No. 1063.
- StampWorld No. 1137.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 989.

The first flights to Chişinău began on June 24, 1926, on the Bucharest - Galaţi - Chişinău route. The flights were operated by the Compagnie Franco-Roumaine de Navigation Aérienne. From Bucharest via Galaţi a flight was also established to Iași. These first flights were used to transport postal mail.

POLAND

POLAND / POLSKA.

100th Anniversary of Polish Settlement in Argentina.
Map of South America with Argentina highlighted.
Stamp issued on 06.06.1997.
Face value: 1.40 Polish złotych.
Design: Andrzej Radziejowski.
Printed by PWPW (Polska Wytwórnia Papierów Wartościowych), Warszawa.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 700,000 copies.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 3553.
- Fischer No. 3512.
- Michel No. 3660.
- Scott No. 3357.
- StampWorld No. 3666.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 3695.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 3441.

Polish immigration in Argentina began at the end of the 19th century. Poland was the fourth largest net contributor of European immigrants after Spain, Italy and Germany. The first known Polish immigrants were a group of 14 families (120 people) from Galicia, a territory of the Austro-Hungarian Empire divided today between Poland and Ukraine, who were heading to the United States and who, due to lack of documentation, had to choose between returning to their places of origin or undertake another destination: the Argentine consul in Trieste offered them lands to colonize in their country and they accepted. They arrived in La Plata in 1897. The governor of the National Territory of Misiones, Juan José Lanusse, accepted to welcome them. Today it is estimated that more than a million Argentines have Polish ancestry.

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Thanks to Sylvester Dulewski for his contribution (https://birdsposta.blogspot.com/).

GREECE

GREECE / ЕΛΛΑΣ.

Greek islands.
Skyros.
Fifth stamp in a set of 10, issued on 14.10.2010.
Face value: 0.50 euro.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 4,900,000 copies.
Size: 42 x 30 mm.

Catalogs
- Karamitsos No. 2624.
- Michel No. 2576A.
- Scott No. 2453.
- StampWorld No. 2551.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 2615.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 2538.

Skyros (Greek: Σκύρος), is southernmost island of the Sporades, an archipelago in the Aegean Sea. At 209 km² (81 sq mi) it is the largest island of the Sporades, and has a population of about 3,000 (in 2011). It is part of the regional unit of Euboea. The north of the island is covered by a forest, while the south, dominated by the highest mountain, called Kochila (792 m, 2,598 ft), is bare and rocky. The island's capital is also called Skyros (or, locally, Chora). The main port, on the west coast, is Linaria. The island has a castle (the kastro) that dates from the Venetian occupation (13th to 15th centuries), a Byzantine monastery (the Monastery of Saint George), the grave of English poet Rupert Brooke in an olive grove by the road leading to Tris Boukes harbour. There are many beaches on the coast.

UNITED KINGDOM, Northern Ireland

 UNITED KINGDOM. Northern Ireland.

25th Anniversary of Investiture of the Prince of Wales.
Watercolors painted by Prince Charles.
Mourne Mountains, Clunty Down.
Third stamp in a set of 5, issued on 01.03.1994.
Face value: 30 British penny.
Printing: Photogravure.
Size: 41 x 30 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 1662.
- Michel No. 1505.
- Scott No. 1550.
- StampWorld No. 1485.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1812.
- Unificato No. 1747,
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1750.

The Mourne Mountains (Irish: Beanna Boirche), also called the Mournes or Mountains of Mourne, are a granite mountain range in County Down in the south-east of Northern Ireland. They include the highest mountains in Northern Ireland, the highest of which is Slieve Donard (Irish: Sliabh Dónairt) at 850 m (2,790 ft). The Mournes are designated an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and it has been proposed to make the area Northern Ireland's first national park.

IVORY COAST

IVORY COAST / CÔTE D'IVOIRE.

15th Anniversary of Independence.
Railroad Bridge on N'zi River.
Face value: 60 West African CFA francs.
Design: Pierrette Lambert (b. 1928).
Printed by Imprimerie A. Delrieu, Paris.
Printing: Photogravure.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 478.
- Scott No. 402.
- StampWorld No. 485.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 464.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 394.

The Railroad Bridge on N'zi River (French: Pont de chemin de fer sur le N’zi or viaduc du N'zi) over the N'zi River is located in the city of Dimbokro, capital of the N'zi-Comoé region. It is 250 m (820 ft) long, was built by the Régie des chemins de fer Abidjan-Niger and was inaugurated on September 11, 1910. The railway line from Abidjan to Burkina Faso passes through it. On September 6, 2016, bridge collapsed partially.

NORWAY

NORWAY / NORGE - NOREG.

Landscapes.
Old Strynefjell Road.
Second stamp in a set of 6, issued on 16.04.2010.
Not face value ("A", inland).
Design: Enzo Finger (b. 1955).
Printed by Joh. Enschedé Stamps, Haarlem, Netherlands.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 4,936,010 copies.
Size: 36 x 22 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 1712.
- Michel No. 1715.
- Nordeskatalogen No. 1750.
- Scott No. 1608.
- StampWorld No. 1719.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1747.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1658.

The Old Strynefjell Road (Norwegian: Nasjonal turistveg Gamle Stynefjellsvegen) runs from Grotli to Videsæter (south-western Norway), a total distance of 27 km (16.77 mi). In places this stretch is narrow with a number of bends and there are restrictions. Vehicles that are more than 8 m long and have an axle load of more than 8 tonnes will be banned from driving on it. The decision to build this road was made in 1881, and the work was completed in 1894. The road is closed during winter and opens in June.

JAMAICA

JAMAICA.

Dunn's River Falls, Ocho Ríos.
Third stamp in a set of 5, issued on 02.10.1972.
Face value: 30 cents of Jamaican dollar.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Size: 31 x 38 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 360.
- Scott No. 354.
- StampWorld No. 363.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 355.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 364.

Dunn's River Falls (also known in Spanish as Las Chorreras) is a famous waterfall near Ocho Rios, Northern Jamaica. At about 55 m (180 ft) high and 180 m (600 ft) long, the waterfalls are terraced like giant natural stairs though some incorporate man-made improvements. Several small lagoons are interspersed among the vertical sections of the falls. They empty into the Caribbean Sea at the western end of a white-sand beach. The falls were the location where the Battle of Las Chorreras took place on October 30, 1657, when the British defeated a Spanish expeditionary force from Cuba.

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Thanks to Dragan Buškulić for his contribution (https://worldofstamp2.wordpress.com/).

ISLE OF MAN

ISLE OF MAN / ELLAN VANNIN.

Sea birds and landscapes.
Shags at the Calf of Man Island.
Second stamp in a set of 4, issued on 15.02.1983.
Face value: 11 Manx penny.
Design: John Hobson Nicholson (1911-1988).
Engraving: Questa.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Size: 40 x 26 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 214.
- Michel No. 225.
- Scott No. 229.
- StampWorld No. 216.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 237.
- Unificato No. 224.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 224.

The Isle of Man (Manx: Ellan Vannin) is an island and self-governing British Crown Dependency in the Irish Sea between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The head of state, the King or Queen of the United Kingdom, holds the title Lord of Mann and is represented by a Lieutenant Governor. The United Kingdom is responsible for the  military defense. The total area of the island is 572 km² (221 sq mi), and its capital is Douglas.

Calf of Man (Manx: Yn Cholloo) is a 2.50-square-kilometer (618-acre) island, off the southwest coast of the Isle of Man, from which it is separated by a narrow stretch of water called the Calf Sound. Until 1939 the island was under private ownership by the Keig family, but was purchased by F. J. Dickens of Silverdale, Lancashire who then donated it to the National Trust to become a bird sanctuary.

The bird depicted on the stamp is an European Shag (Gulosus aristotelis).

INDIA

INDIA / भारत.

First South Asian Regional Cooperation Meeting.
Map of South Asian region.
First stamp in a set of 2, issued on 08.12.1985.
Face value: 1 Indian rupee.
Printing: Photogravure.
Printed by Security Printing Press, Nasik.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 1038.
- Scott No. 1104.
- StampWorld No. 1041.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1172.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 853.

The South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) is the regional intergovernmental organization and geopolitical union of states in South Asia. Its member states are Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The Association was founded in Dhaka, Bangladesh, on 8 December 1985 (as this stamp commemorates) by seven states (Afghanistan joined in 2005). Its secretariat is based in Kathmandu, Nepal. The organization promotes development of economic and regional integration. It launched the South Asian Free Trade Area in 2006. The SAARC maintains permanent diplomatic relations at the United Nations as an observer and has developed links with multilateral entities, including the European Union.

PARAGUAY

PARAGUAY.

International bridge over the Paraná River, between Paraguay and Brazil.
Fourth stamp in a set of 5, issued on 26.01.1961.
Face value: 0.75 Paraguayan guaraní.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Printed by Casa de Moneda de Chile.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 872A.
- Scott No. 575.
- StampWorld No. 908.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 894.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 591.

Known as the International Friendship Bridge (Spanish: Puente Internacional de la Amistad; Portuguese: Ponte Internacional da Amizade) it was built between 1959 and 1965 over the Paraná River, and connects the cities of Foz do Iguaçu (Brazil) and Ciudad del Este (Paraguay). It is 552.4 m (1,812 ft) long and 78 m (256 ft) high. It was officially inaugurated on March 27, 1965 by the presidents of Paraguay, Alfredo Stroessner, and of Brazil, Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco.

SINGAPORE

SINGAPORE / SINGAPURA - 新加坡共和国

Old maps.
The city and the bay by George D. Coleman.
Last stamp in a set of 4, issued on 13.03.1996.
Face value: 2 Singapore dollars.
Printing: Offset lithography.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 794.
- Scott No. 750.
- StampWorld No. 812.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 831.

George Drumgoole Coleman (1795-1844), also known as George Drumgold Coleman, was an Irish civil architect who played an instrumental role in the design and construction of much of the civil infrastructure in early Singapore, after it was founded by Sir Stamford Raffles in 1819. Came to Singapore in June 1822 and was responsible, as advisor to Raffles, of the planning of the center of the town, created roads, and constructed many fine buildings. In 1829 worked as a Topographical Surveyor and surveyed in minute detail the islands that would form the new city's harbor.

BRAZIL

BRAZIL / BRASIL.

Tourism.
Pedra do Sal, Piauí.
Second stamp in a set of 3, issued on 19.12.1975.
Face value: 0.70 Brazilian cruzeiros.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 1,500,000 copies.
Size: 41 x 29 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 1515.
- RHM No. C-917.
- Scott No. 1419.
- StampWorld No. 1532.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1570.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1177.

Pedra do Sal is a beach located on Ilha Grande de Santa Isabel, a river island in the Delta of the Parnaíba River, in the state of Piauí. Stones abound on the beach. There is also a lighthouse inaugurated on March 4, 1873: it is a 12.5 m (41 ft) metal octagonal tower.

ANDORRA

 

ANDORRA (French Post).

Margineda Bridge over the Valira River.
Stamp issued on 24.02.1990.
Face value: 2.30 French francs.
Design: Ève Luquet (b. 1954).
Printing: Recess.
Print: 315,054 copies.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 406.
- Edifil No. 406.
- Michel No. 406.
- Scott No. 379.
- StampWorld No. 406.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 425.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 385.

The Margineda bridge (Catalan: Pont de la Margineda) is located in Santa Coloma, Andorra la Vella Parish. It is a heritage property registered in the Cultural Heritage of Andorra. It was built in the 14-15th century. The bridge spans a Gran Valira River. The archstones are pumice, to keep the structure light. The walls are made of granite.

SPAIN

SPAIN / ESPAÑA.

Nature.
Órganos de Montoro.
Stamp issued on 17.11.2003.
Face value: 0,51 euro.
Engraved and print by RCM - FNMT, Madrid.
Printing: photogravure.
Print: 1,200,000 copies.
Size: 40.9 x 28.8 mm.

Catalogs
- Edifil No. 4035.
- Michel No. 3897.
- StampWorld No. 3903.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 4007.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 3611.

The Órganos de Montoro is a natural set comprising a large number of stunning limestone needles over two hundred feet high, found in the Maestrazgo / Maestrat mountain region in rhe province of Teruel (Aragon). Named after the resemblance to the pipes of a church organs. Its surface is 187.60 ha. The altitude ranges between 800 m (2,625 ft) above sea level in the Guadalope River and 1,183 m (3,881 ft) in the Peña de los Órganos.

RUSSIA

RUSSIA / РОССИЯ.

Volcanos of Kamchatka.
Caldera of the Uzon volcano, and a small map of the Kamchatka Peninsula.

Second stamp in a set of 4, issued on 20.06.2002.
Face value: 2 Russian rubles.
Design: A. Umurkulova.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 300,000 copies.
Size: 40 x 28 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 991.
- Scott No. 6704b.
- StampWorld No. 985.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 7098.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 6642.
- Zagorsky No. F 759,

Uzon (Russian: Узон) is a destroyed extinct volcano, which had an altitude of around 3,000 m (1,865 ft), located on the territory of the Kronotsky Nature Reserve, east of the Kamchatka Peninsula. This is a unique area of manifestation of modern volcanism, the formation of minerals and ores, the place where the youngest oil on the planet emerges. The caldera of the Uzon volcano, formed about 40,000 years ago as a result of violent eruptions, is one of the largest in Kamchatka: it is a great depression up to 12 km (7.46 miles) in diameter in a latitudinal direction and up to 9 km (5.6 miles) heading south. It is occupied by Lake Dalny In 1854, the Estonian-German geologist Karl von Ditmar discovered mineral springs there.

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Thanks to Dragan Buškulić for his contribution (https://worldofstamp2.wordpress.com/).

ALDERNEY

 ALDERNEY.

Definitive stamps.
Corblets Bay and Queen Elizaberth II.
Ninth stamp in a set of 12, issued on 14.06.1986.
Face value: 15 Guernsey penny.
Design: Gordon Drummond (1921-2001).
Printed by Courvoisier-Attinger Arts Graphiques S.A., Biel/Bienne (Switzerland).
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 740,519 copies.
Size: 37.9 x 29 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 9.
- Michel No. 9.
- Scott No. 9.
- StampWorld No. 9.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 9.
- Unificato No. 9.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 9.

Corblets Bay is located on the northernmost of the island, near the city of Saint Anne, and has a very popular beach. On its eastern side, at an altitude of 16 m (52.5 ft), is Fort Corblets (visible on the stamp), a now-ruined Victorian defensive construction built in the 1850s.