MEXICO

MEXICO / MÉXICO.

Ethnicity and History.
Citlaltépetl Volcano (or Orizaba Peak).
Airmail. Third stamp in a set of 9, issued in 1947.
Face value: 15 cents of Mexican peso.
Printing: Recess.
Printed by Oficina Impresora de Hacienda, México.
Size: 40 x 25 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 959.
- Scott No. C172.
- StampWorld No. 1020.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 827.
- Yvert et Tellier No. PA127.

Citlaltépetl, commonly known as Orizaba Peak (Pico de Orizaba), is an inactive (but not extinct) stratovolcano, the highest mountain in Mexico and the third highest in North America. It rises 5,636 meters (18,491 ft) above sea level in the eastern end of the Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, on the border between the states of Veracruz and Puebla, and is part of the Sierra Madre Oriental. It last eruption taking place during the 19th century. In the colonial era, the volcano was also known as Cerro de San Andrés. It is one of only three volcanoes in Mexico that continue to support glaciers and is home to the largest glacier in the country, the Gran Glaciar Norte. In 1839, Henri Galeotti was the first European to explore the volcano, but he did not climb to the top. During the US occupation of Mexico in 1848, two American soldiers, F. Maynard and William F. Raynolds, reached the summit. On December 16, 1936, the Mexican government created the 48,800-acre (19,750-hectare) Pico de Orizaba National Park (Parque Nacional Pico de Orizaba) to protect the volcano and its surrounding area.