FRANCE

FRANCE.

150th anniversary annexation voluntary Mayotte to France.
Landscape and stylized map of Mayotte Island.
Stamp issued on 20.12.1991.
Face value: 2.50 French francs.
Design: Thierry Cheminet (b. 1958).
Engraving: Jacky Larrivière (b. 1946).
Printing: Recess.
Print: 12,176,397 copies.
Size: 40 x 26 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 2970.
- Michel No. 2870.
- Scott No. 2271.
- StampWorld No. 2862.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 3051.
- Unificato No. 2725.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 2271.

Mayotte (Shimaore: Maore; Kibushi: Maori) is an overseas department of France (French: Département de Mayotte). It is located in the northern part of the Mozambique Channel in the Indian Ocean off the coast of Southeastern Africa. Mayotte consists of a main island, Grande-Terre (or Maore), a smaller island, Petite-Terre (or Pamanzi), as well as several islets around these two. Mayotte's land area is 374 km² (144 sq mi) and its population is 299,348 people according to January 2022 official estimates. Mayotte was purchased by France in 1841, in 1885 it was integrated into the colony of the Comoros, and it remained voluntarily with France after the Comoros declared its independence in 1974. After a referendum, it became an overseas department of France on 31 March 2011.

Thanks to Daniel Mathieu for his contribution (http://lettresdumonde.blogspot.com/)

SRI LANKA

SRI LANKA / ශ්‍රී ලංකා - இலங்கை

Lighthauses.
Devinuwara Lighthouse.
Third stamp in a minisheet of 4, issued on 22.01.1996.
Face value: 2.00 Sri Lankan rupee.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Size: 29 x 40 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 1100.
- Scott No. 1149.
- StampWorld No. 677.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1317.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1089.

Devinuwara (Sinhala: දෙවිනුවර) Lighthouse is located on Dondra Head, the southernmost point in Sri Lanka and is Sri Lanka's tallest lighthouse, and also one of the tallest in South East Asia. The name Dondra is a synonym for "Devi-Nuwara" in the local Sinhala language, "Devi" meaning "Gods" and "Nuwara" meaning "City". The 49-meter (161 ft) lighthouse, designed by James Nicholas Douglass, began construction in November 1887 and became operational in March 1890. It is an octagonal tower with balcony and lantern. The rotating lens was removed in 2020 and replaced by a static flashing LED light.

MADAGASCAR

MADAGASCAR / REPOBLIKA MALAGASY.

Tourism.
Nossi-bé. Andoany (Hell-Ville) port.
Airmail stamp issued on 07.05.1962.
Face value: 100 French African CFA francs.
Design and engraving: René Cottet (1902-1992).
Printing: Recess.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 482.
- Scott No. C70.
- StampWorld No. 531.
- Stanley Gibbons No. R 44.
- Yvert et Tellier No. PA87.

Nossi-bé (now Nosy Be) is an island in the Indian Ocean, in the Antsiranana Province, about 8 km (5 mi) off the coast of Madagascar. Its estimated population is about 109,000 people, according to the census of 2018. Its capital is Andoany, called Hell-Ville (after Admiral Anne Chrétien Louis de Hell) during the French colonization: it was founded by the French in 1841 to establish there a military port, which is currently a civil and commercial port (it is the one seen on the stamp).

MADAGASCAR

MADAGASCAR / REPOBLIKAN'I MADAGASIKARA.

Landscapes.
Nosy Antafana Islands.
Stamp issued on 22.05.2015.
Face value: 100 Malagasy ariary.
Size: 36 x 30 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 2686.
- Scott No.
- StampWorld No. 2752.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1434.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1919.

The 1,000-hectare Nosy Antafana Marine Park on the northeast coast of the Indian Ocean is made up of three islets: Nosy Antafana, Nosy Rangontsy and Nosy Hely. It is part of the Mananara-Nord National Park, established in 1989 and declared a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO in 1990. The Nosy Antafana Islands have become a major tourist attraction for their beaches, coral reefs, mangroves and rock formations, but also for its important colony of bats. However, they face a growing deterioration of the corals and their clandestine extraction.

COMOROS

COMOROS / UNION DES COMORES - UDZIMA WA KOMORI.

Port Mamutzu (Mamoudzou).
Airmail. Ninth stamp in a set of 17 (overprinted), issued on 01.08.1975.
Face value: 100 (over 90) Comorian francs.
Design: Pierrette Lambert (b. 1928).
Printing: Photogravure.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 238.
- Scott No. C84.
- StampWorld No. 219.
- Yvert et Tellier No. PA84.

Mamoudzou is, since 1977, the capital of Mayotte, a French overseas region and department in the Indian Ocean. When the referendum for the independence of the Comoros Islands was held (December 22, 1974), Mayotte voted to remain linked to France, while the State of Comoros proclaimed its independence on July 6, 1975. Mamoudzou is the most populated commune (municipality) of Mayotte (71,437, according to the 2017 census). It is located on Grande-Terre (or Maoré), the main island of Mayotte. In the background of the seal you can see the promontory of Pointe de Mahabou.

SOUTH AFRICA

SOUTH AFRICA / SUID-AFRIKA.

150th anniversary of the Boer migration (Great Trek).
Map with the Boers' itineraries.
First stamp in a set of 4, issued on 21.11.1988.
Face value: 16 South African cents.
Design: J. van Niekerk.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Size: 29 x 38 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 762.
- Scott No. 758.
- StampWorld No. 801.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 673.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 679.

The Great Trek (Afrikaans: Die Groot Trek) was a Northward migration of Dutch-speaking settlers who traveled by wagon trains from the Cape Colony into the interior of modern South Africa from 1836 onwards, seeking to live beyond the Cape's British colonial administration. The Great Trek resulted from the culmination of tensions between rural descendants of the Cape's original European settlers, known collectively as Boers, and the British Empire. Boers who took part in the Great Trek identified themselves as voortrekkers, meaning "pioneers", "pathfinders" (literally "fore-trekkers") in Dutch and Afrikaans. The migration led directly to the founding of several autonomous Boer republics, namely the South African Republic (also known simply as the Transvaal), the Orange Free State, and the Natalia Republic. It was also responsible for the displacement of the Northern Ndebele people, and was one of several decisive factors influencing the decline and collapse of the Zulu Kingdom. During the Great Trek there were several armed conflicts with the local populations of the territories occupied by the Boers, which caused great massacres. The Great Trek was used by Afrikaner nationalists as a core symbol of a common Afrikaans history. It was used to promote the idea of ​​an Afrikaans nation.

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

INDONESIA

INDONESIA.

Centenary of the Krakatoa Volcano eruption.
First stamp in a set of 2, issued on 26.08.1983.
Face value: 110 Indonesia rupiah.
Printing: Photogravure.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 1110.
- Scott No. 1204.
- StampWorld No. 1153.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1713.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1000.

Krakatoa, also transcribed Krakatau (Indonesian: Krakatau), is a caldera in the Sunda Strait between the islands of Java and Sumatra in the Indonesian province of Lampung. The caldera is part of a volcanic island group (Krakatoa archipelago) comprising four islands. Two, Lang and Verlaten, are remnants of a previous volcanic edifice destroyed in eruptions long before the famous 1883 eruption; another, Rakata, is the remnant of a much larger island destroyed in the 1883 eruption. In 1927, a fourth island, Anak Krakatau, or "Child of Krakatoa", emerged from the caldera formed in 1883. There has been new eruptive activity since the late 20th century, with a large collapse causing a deadly tsunami in December 2018. The most notable eruptions of Krakatoa culminated in a series of massive explosions over 26–27 August 1883, which were among the most violent volcanic events in recorded history. 

TANZANIA

TANZANIA.

Country Motifs.
Fishing: Mafia Island map.
Eleventh stamp in a set of 14, issued on 09.12.1965.
Face value: 2.50 Tanzanian shilingi.
Design: Victor Whiteley (1922-2002).
Printed by Harrison & Sons Ltd.
Printing; Photogravure.
Size: 45 x 29 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 15.
- Scott No. 15.
- StampWorld No. 15.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 138.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 11.

Mafia Island (Swahili: Kisiwa cha Mafia or Chole shamba) is a district of Pwani Region. Its area is 435 km² (168 sq mi), its length is 49 km (30.4 mi) and its width is 17 km (10.6 mi). Its maximum elevation is a 53 m (174 ft) hill. In 2016 it had an approximate population of 48,000 inhabitants, mainly from the Rufiji and Matumbi ethnic groups. Its most important city is Kilindoni, on the southwestern coast. The main ecosystems on the island are mangroves, coastal forests, scrublands, and grasslands. The southern coast of Mafia and its closest islands (Juani, Chole and Jibondo), together with the intervening marine waters, have been designated an Important Bird Area (IBA) by BirdLife International. A sailfish (Istiophorus orientalis) is represented on the stamp.

ADEN

ADEN / عدن (now in Yemen).

Definitive stamps (with a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II).
Map with location of Aden in the Arabian Peninsula.
Stamp issued on 15.06.1953.
Face value: 50 East African cents.
Printing: Recess.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 54.
- Scott No. 53.
- StampWorld No. 54.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 59.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 54A.

Aden (in Arabic, عدن) is currently a city in Yemen located south of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a natural harbor, built on an old volcanic peninsula, in a strategic position on the route between India and Europe. The first records of its existence date from the 5th and 7th centuries BC. On January 19, 1839, the British seized the city, which was under the control of the British Crown until on November 7, 1967, as a result of several Yemeni revolts and some armed confrontations, was abandoned. On December 1, 1970 the Democratic People's Republic of Yemen, better known as South Yemen, was proclaimed. On July 7, 1994, Aden was occupied by troops from the North Yemen Army and Yemen was unified into one country.

MAURITIUS

MAURITIUS.

Environmental protection.
Rivière du Poste Estuary.
Fourth stamp in a set of 5, issued on 04.10.1991.
Face value: 5 Mauritian rupees.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Size: 42 x 29 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 728I.
- Scott No. 694.
- StampWorld No. 747.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 814A.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 763.

The Rivière du Poste Estuary is located in the south of the island of Mauritius, in the Grand Port District, near L’Escalier village. The Rivière du Poste is the second largest river in the country, and its mouth in the Indian Ocean is a protected natural place, which cannot really be considered an estuary itself, but rather an arm of the sea that goes into the land.

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Thanks to Daniel Mathieu for his contribution (http://lettresdumonde.blogspot.com/)

AUSTRALIA

AUSTRALIA.

Navigators.
William Dampier (1651-1715) and ship "Roebuck".
Stamp issued on 25.11.1964.
Face value: 5 Australian shilling.
Design: Walter Jardine (1884-1970).
Engraving: P. E. Morriss.
Printing: Recess.
Print: 4,789,317 copies.
Size: 24 x 28 mm.

Catalogs
- Brusden-White No.405.
- Michel No. 332.
- Scott No. 375.
- Seven Seas No. 387.
- StampWorld No. 331.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 356.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 300.

William Dampier (1651 - 1715) was an English explorer, pirate, privateer, navigator, and naturalist who became the first Englishman to explore parts of what is today Australia, and the first person to circumnavigate the world three times. He has also been described as Australia's first natural historian. The publication of the book A New Voyage Round the World (1697) was a popular sensation, creating interest at the Admiralty. In 1699, Dampier was given command of the 26-gun warship HMS Roebuck, with the mission was to explore the east coast of New Holland, the name given by the Dutch to what is now Australia.

INDONESIA

INDONESIA.

Musical instruments.
Java map and celempung.
First stamp in a set of 16, issued on 01.02.1967.
Face value: 0.50 Indonesian rupiah.
Printing: Photogravure.
Size: 25 x 32 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 562.
- Scott No. 705.
- StampWorld No. 604.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1140.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 498.
- Zonnebloem No. 563.

Java (Indonesian: Jawa or [formerly] Djawa) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. Its area is 129,904 km² (50,156 sq mi) and in 2020 it had a population of 147,795,436 inhabitants. The island is divided into four administrative provinces: Banten, West Java, Central Java, and East Java, and two special regions, Jakarta and Yogyakarta. In its territory four main languages ​​are spoken: Javanese, Sundanese, Madurese, and Betawi. Java is almost entirely of volcanic origin; it contains thirty-eight mountains forming an east–west spine that have at one time or another been active volcanoes. The highest volcano in the island is Mount Semeru, 3,676 m (12,060 ft), and the most active volcano is Mount Merapi, 2,930 m (9,610 ft). In total, Java has more than 150 mountains.

The celempung is a string instruments used in Javanese gamelan. It have between 11 and 13 pairs of strings, strung on each side, between a box resonator. Typically the strings on one side tuned to pelog and the other to slendro.

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.

SRI LANKA

SRI LANKA / ශ්‍රී ලංකා - இலங்கை.

Ancient maps of Sri Lanka.
Map of Ceylon Island published by Robert Knox in 1681.
Last stamp in a set of 3, issued on 22.09.2020.
Face value: 15 Sri Lankan rupee.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 300,000 copies.
Size: 41 x 30 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 2323A.
- StampWorld No. 1914.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 2263.

Robert Knox (1641-1720) was an English sea captain in the service of the British East India Company. In January 1658, together with his father, he began a voyage by sea from Persia, and in November of the following year, a storm threw his ship to the shores of present-day Sri Lanka, where the entire crew was captured by the soldiers of the Kandy's king Rajasinghe II, who treated them rather leniently: young Knox managed to settle down and work as a farmer and peddler, and after nineteen years of captivity he was able to escape and take refuge in Arippu, a Dutch fort on the island's northwest coast, from where he was able to return to London. During the trip he wrote his An Historical Relation of the Island Ceylon, an account of his experiences, which was published in 1681, accompanied by engravings, among which is the map reproduced on the stamp.

SRI LANKA

SRI LANKA / ශ්‍රී ලංකා - இலங்கை.

Ancient Maps of Sri Lanka.
Map of Taprobana (Sri Lanka) by Tommaso Porcacchi (1572).
Second stamp in a set of 3, issued on 22.09.2020.
Face value: 15 Sri Lankan Rupee.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Size: 41 x 30 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 2322A.
- StampWorld No. 1913.

Taprobana (Ancient Greek: Ταπροβανᾶ) was the name by which the island of Sri Lanka was known to the ancient Greeks.

Tommaso Porcacchi (Castiglion Fiorentino, 1530 - Udine, 1576) was an Italian humanist, geographer, bibliophile, polygraph, and scholar. Among his most outstanding works is L'isole più famose del mondo descritte da Thomaso Porcacchi da Castiglione arretino and intagliate da Girolamo Porro padovano con l'aggiunta di molte isole ('The most famous islands in the world described by Thomaso Porcacchi da Castiglione from Arezzo and carved by Girolamo Porro from Padua with the addition of many islands'). It was published in Venice by Simon Galignani and Girolamo Porro in 1576. The map reproduced in the stamp was drawn in 1572.

INDONESIA

INDONESIA.

Musical instruments.
Sumatra (Sumatera) Map and kultjapi.
Fourth stamp in a set of 16, issued on 01.02.1967.
Face value: 1.50 Indonesian rupiah.
Printing: Photogravure.
Size: 25 x 32 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 565.
- Scott No. 708.
- StampWorld No. 607.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1143.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 501.
- Zonnebloem No. 566.

Sumatra (Indonesian: Sumatera) is one of the Sunda Islands of western Indonesia. It is the largest island in the Indonesian territory, as well as the sixth-largest island in the world at 473,481 km² (182,812 sq mi). The Indian Ocean borders the west, northwest, and southwest coasts of Sumatra, with the island chain of Simeulue, Nias, Mentawai, and Enggano off the western coast. In the northeast, the narrow Strait of Malacca separates the island from the Malay Peninsula. In the southeast, the Sunda Strait, containing the Krakatoa Archipelago, separates Sumatra from Java. The northern tip of island borders the Andaman Islands, while off the southeastern coast lie the islands of Bangka and Belitung, Karimata Strait and the Java Sea. The Bukit Barisan mountains, which contain several active volcanoes, form the backbone of the island, while the northeastern area contains large plains and lowlands with swamps, mangrove forest and complex river systems. The equator crosses the island at its centre in West Sumatra and Riau provinces. The population of Sumatra, in 2020, was 58,557,211 inhabitants.

The kultjapi (kulkapi or kacapi, better known as hasapi) is a two-stringed lute from the Batak people in Sumatra. Formerly it was used in religious rituals, but more recently it has been incorporated into musical ensembles and. especially to the traveling Opera Batak. The instrument is made from a single piece of wood and its body is slim, pear-shaped.

SOUTH AFRICA

SOUTH AFRICA / SUID-AFRIKA.

Beaches.
Plattenbergbaai / Plattenberg Bay.
First stamp in a set of 4, issued on 12.10.1983.
Face value: 10 cents of South African rand.
Design: A. H. Barrett.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Size: 48 x 31.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 638.
- Scott No. 622.
- South African Stamp Collection No. 553.
- StampWorld No. 676.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 549.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 543.

Plettenberg Bay, nicknamed Plet or Plett, is the primary town of the Bitou Local Municipality in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. As of the census of 2001, there were 29,149 population. It was originally named Bahia Formosa (“beautiful bay”) by early Portuguese explorers. Between 1960 and 1990, the Plettenberg Bay holiday complex was greatly expanded and numerous second-home developments were established there.

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

REUNION

REUNION / RÉUNION.

Definitive stamps.
Map of Reunion Island.
First stamp in a set of 6, issued in 1907.
Face value: 1 cent of French franc.
Printing: Typography.
Size: 41 x 25 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 56.
- Scott No. 60.
- StampWorld No. 56.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 60.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 56.

Reunion (Reunion Creole: La Rényon) is an island of the Mascarene archipelago with the status of a French overseas department, located in the Indian Ocean, east of Madagascar, and constituted as an outermost region of the European Union. Like the rest of the overseas departments, it is also a region of France and is part of the Republic. Its area is 2,511 km² (970 sq mi) and its population (January 2021) was 858,450 inhabitants.

The island was occupied by the Arabs since the 10th century, but when the Portuguese arrived in 1513, they found it uninhabited and named it Santa Apolónia. In 1638 it was occupied by France, and it was administered from Mauritius. The island would not be officially claimed by France until 1642, and by decree of King Louis XIII it was renamed Île Bourbon. Colonization, however, did not begin until 1665, when the French East India Company (Compagnie française pour le commerce des Indes orientales) sent out the first settlers and African slaves. French immigration was completed with that from Africa, China, Malaysia and India, giving the population the diverse character it has today.

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Thanks to Óscar Valencia for his contribution.

FRENCH SOUTHERN AND ANTARCTIC LANDS

FRENCH SOUTHERN AND ANTARCTIC LANDS /
TERRES AUSTRALES ET ANTARCTIQUES FRANÇAISES (TAAF).

Whale Island (Île de la Baleine).
Stamp issued on 01.01.2007.
Face value: 0.90 euro.
Design and engraving: Yves Beaujard (b. 1939).
Printing: Recess.
Size: 52 x 31 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 607.
- Scott No. 380.
- StampWorld No. 612.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 578.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 455.

The Whale Island (Île de la Baleine) is an uninhabited island in the French archipelago of Kerguelen, in the southern Indian Ocean. It is located northwest of Australia Island, in the Gulf of Morbihan. Its shape evokes that of a whale (as seen in the stamp).

AUSTRALIA

AUSTRALIA.

Navigators.
Abel Janszoon Tasman (1603-1659) and ship "Heemskerk".
First stamp in a set of 6, issued on 09.10.1963.
Face value: 4 Australian shilling.
Design: Walter Jardine (1884-1970).
Printing: Recess.
Print: 5,199,052 copies.
Size: 38 x 24 mm.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 331.
- Scott No. 374.
- Seven Seas Stamps No. 386.
- StampWorld No. 330.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 355.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 299.

Abel Janszoon Tasman (Lutjegast, province of Groningen, 1603 - Batavia, present-day Djakarta, October 10, 1659) was a Dutch sailor, explorer and merchant, famous for the voyages made between 1642 and 1644 in the service of the Dutch East India Company (Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie, VOC). His was the first known European expedition to reach the present-day island of Tasmania at the end of 1642, to which he gave the name of Van Diemen's Land (honor of Anthony van Diemen, governor general of the Dutch East India Company who promoted the expedition), and to New Zealand, and who sighted the Fiji Islands in 1643. Tasman, his pilot, Visscher, and his purser, Gilsemans, charted important parts of the coasts of Australia, New Zealand, and several of the Pacific islands.