OMAN

OMAN / عمان

Empty Quarter Saudi Arabia.
Map of State of Oman and dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius).
Cindarella (unrecognized issue), 1968.
Face value: 3 B.
Size: 34.3 x 44.3 mm.

This stamps was issued by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman. The “State of Oman” was based in the Green Mountains (Al Jabal al Akhdar) area of Oman and the region of Dhofar south of Oman, and Nizwa was the rebel capital. The Marxist Popular Front for the Liberation of the Occupied Arab Gulf (later called the Popular Front for the Liberation of Oman; PFLO) gained control of the growing rebellion by the late 1960s with the aid of the People’s Republic of China, the Soviet Union, Marxist South Yemen (which had achieved independence from the British in late 1967), and Iraq.

DHOFAR

DHOFAR / ظُفَار

First definitive stamps, considered cindarellas.
Map: location of Dhofar on the Arabian Peninsula.
First stamp in a set of 8, issued on 30.04.1972.
Face value: 20 Imani balsa.

Dhofar (or Dhufar, ظُفَار) is currently one of the governorates of Oman, with an area of 99,300 km² (38,300 sq mi) and 408,419 inhabitants (September 2021). In 1963 the Dhofar Liberation Front, of communist ideology, was formed, which rebelled against the Sultanate of Muscat and Oman with the aim of creating an independent state, free from the government of the Omani Sultan. The rebels also intended to end British influence in the Persian Gulf region. This led to a war (Dhofar War or Omani Civil War) that began on June 9 of that year and lasted until March 11, 1976. The rebels had the support of South Yemen, the Soviet Union and the People's Republic of China. Eventually, the Omani Armed Forces, with the support of Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom, defeated Dhorfar guerrillas and the territory rejoined the Sultanate of Oman.

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

LIHOU

LIHOU (Guernsey).

Lihou Youth Project.
Map of the Lihou Island.
Second stamp in a set of 5. issued on 18.07.1966.
Face value: 2 penny.
Cindarella stamp, not recognized by the UPU or considered in official catalogs.

Lihou is a small 0.15 km² (0.057 sq mi) island located off the west coast of the island of Guernsey, between Great Britain and France. Administratively it is part of the parish of St. Peter in the Bailiwick of Guernsey, and is now owned by the Guernsey parliament, although it has had several owners in the past. Since 2006, the island has been jointly managed by the Guernsey Department of the Environment and the Lihou Charitable Trust. At low tide it is linked to the L'Erée promontory in Guernsey by a 400 m (1,300 ft) stone causeway. In 1989 the island was identified as a Site of Nature Conservation Interest and as part of an Important Bird Area that includes parts of the Guernsey coastline. From 1966 to 1969, when the Guernsey states assumed responsibility for postal services in the Bailiwick. Lihou issued his own stamps, which are philatelicly considered cindarellas with no postage value.

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Thanks to R. Gómez-Val for his contribution.

ABKHAZIA

ABKHAZIA / АԥСНЫ.

Simplified map illustrated by the stripes of the Abkhazia flag, and arms.
(Fake stamps printed by a foreign firm in 1994.)
Face value: 300 M(?).
Not other data.
Not in official catalogs.

Abkhazia (Abkhazian: Аԥсны; Russian: Абхазия) is a segregated state of Georgia and recognized only by Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela, Nauru and Syria. For the United Nations, it lies within the internationally recognized borders of Georgia, thus constituting the Autonomous Republic of Abkhazia. It is located between the Caucasus Mountains and the shores of the Black Sea, and unilaterally declared its independence from Georgia on July 23, 1992 as the Republic of Abkhazia (Аԥсны Аҳәынҭқарра). On August 28, 2008, the Parliament of Georgia declared Abkhazia a Russian-occupied territory, a position reflected by most United Nations member states. Its area is 8,665 km² (3,346 sq mi) and its estimated population in 2018 was 245,250 inhabitants. Its capital is Sukhumi. The Republic of Abhazia issued postage stamps between 1993 and 2010, and later from 2018; however, these stamps are not recognized by the Universal Postal Union. In addition to the official issues of the Republic of Abkhazia, some international firms have printed stamps, such as the one reproduced here, which should be considered speculative and fake.

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Thanks to Kazimierz R. Leszczyński for his contribution (http://leszkarozdub.blogspot.com).

SOUTH MOLUCCAS

SOUTH MOLUCCAS / MALUKU SELATAN - ZUID-MOLUKKEN.

Stamps issued abroad by the self-proclaimed South Molican government.
Fifth Anniversary of Pacific Liberation.
Map of Indonesian islands and General Douglas MacArthur.
Seventh stamp in a set of 9, issued in 1955.
Face value: 1 rupee.
Printed by the Österreichische Staatsdruckerei, Wien (1955).

Catalogs
- Dai Nippon No. 106-07.
- StampWorld No. 24.

The Republic of the South Moluccas (Republik Maluku Selatan) is an unrecognized secessionist republic in the archipelago of the South Moluccas, in present-day Indonesia, which claims the islands of Ambon, Buru, and Seram. When Indonesia gained independence in December 1949 through a treaty with the Netherlands, the rebels in the Southern Moluccas remained loyal to the Dutch Crown and, after a failed attempt to stay out of the new republic, unilaterally declared the Republic of South Moluccas in April 25, 1950. The self-proclaimed government settled in Seram, where the armed struggle continued until December 1963. In 1966 a government in exile was established in the Netherlands. Meanwhile, however, the Republic of the Southern Moluccas issued stamps (which were never circulated) financed from New York by the merchant Henry Stolow, who was behind the issuance of numerous stamps of doubtful validity. These emissions, considered cindarellas, are not usually included in catalogs.

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