TOKELAU

TOKELAU.

Map of Nukunonu Atoll.
Second stamp in a set of 3, issued on 22.06.1948.
Face value: 1 New Zealand penny.
Printing: Recess.
Size: 41 x 25 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 2.
- Scott No. 2.
- StampWorld No. 2.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 2.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 2.

Tokelau (Union Islands, and, until 1976, known officially as the Tokelau Islands) is a dependent territory of New Zealand from January 1, 1948. It is located in the southern Pacific Ocean, and consists of three tropical coral atolls: Atafu, Nukunonu, and Fakaofo.

Nukunonu (formerly, Nukunono) is the largest atoll within Tokelau. It comprises 30 islets surrounding a central lagoon, with about 5.5 km² (2.1 sq mi) of land area and a lagoon surface area of 109 km² (42 sq mi). The first European vessel known to have come upon Nukunonu was the Royal Navy ship HMS Pandora, in 1791, whose captain, Edward Edwards, named Duke of Clarence Island in honor of Prince William, Duke of Clarence and St Andrews, the third son of King George III and later king himself, as William IV. Between 1856 and 1979, the United States claimed that it held sovereignty over the island and the other Tokelauan atolls. In 1979, the U.S. conceded that Tokelau was under New Zealand sovereignty, and a maritime boundary between Tokelau and American Samoa was established by the Treaty of Tokehega. Local administration consists of a Taupulega (Council of Elders), made up of heads of family groups and two elected members. In 2013, some 400 people live on Nukunonu, of which more than 95% belong to the Catholic Church.

MARSHALL ISLANDS

MARSHALL ISLANDS / AORŌKIN M̧AJEĻ

Definitive stamps.
Map of Jaluit Atoll.
Fouth stamp in a set of 10, issued on 12.06.1984.
Face value: 10 cents of United States dollar.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Size: 20 x 23 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 8A.
- Scott No. 38.
- StampWorld No. 8.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 8.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 48.

Jaluit Atoll (Marshallese: Jālwōj or Jālooj) is a large coral atoll of 91 islands in the Pacific Ocean and forms a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its total land area is 11.34 km² (4.38 sq mi), and it encloses a lagoon with an area of 690 km² (270 sq mi). Most of the land area is on the largest islet of Jaluit (10.4 km²). Jaluit Atoll is a designated conservation area and Ramsar Wetland. In 2011 the population of the islands of Jaluit Atoll was 1,788. It was the former administrative seat of the Marshall Islands. In 1884, the German Empire claimed Jaluit Atoll, along with the rest of the Marshall Islands, and the Germans established a trading outpost. Jaluit became a German protectorate on September 13, 1886 and had several imperial commissars (Kaiserliche Kommissare). After World War I, the island became a part of the South Seas Mandate, a mandated territory of the Empire of Japan, and was the seat of the Japanese administration over the Marshall Islands. Immigrants from Japan numbered several hundred by the 1930s. During World War II the island was bombed on at least five occasions in November and December 1943 by B-24 Liberator bombers of the USAAF 7th Air Force. Following World War II, Jaluit came under the control of the United States as part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands until the independence of the Marshall Islands in 1986.

NICARAGUA

NICARAGUA.

Landscapes.
Asososca Lagoon and location map.
Airmail. Fourth stamp in a set of 8, issued on 27.02.1979.
Face value: 90 cents of Nicaraguan córdoba.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Size: 47 x 29 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 2068.
- Scott No. C957.
- StampWorld No. 2123.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 2196.
- Yvert et Tellier No. PA921.

The Asososca Lagoon, located west of the urban center of Managua and 2.2 km (1.37 mi) from Lake Xolotlán, occupies the bottom of an ancient crater formed by the explosion and collapse of the volcano of the same name approximately 5,000 years ago. Its surface is 1.2 km² (0.46 sq mi), and its average depth is 95 m (312 ft). It is a natural reservoir that supplies water to a part of the city of Managua. It has been declared a protected area and nature reserve.

ECUADOR

ECUADOR.

Tourism Promotion.
Cuicocha Lagoon.
First stamp in a set of 6, issued in 1953.
Face value: 5 Ecuadorian centavos.
Printed by Security Banknote Company.
Printing: Recess.
Print: 300,000 copies.

Catalogs
- Bertossa No. 857.
- Michel No. 812.
- Scott No. 576.
- StampWorld No. 814.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 984.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 565.

Cuicocha (Kichwa language: Kuychi Kucha) is a 3 km (2 mi) wide caldera and crater lake at the foot of Cotacachi Volcano in the Cordillera Occidental of the Ecuadorian Andes, in Imbabura Province, at an altitude of 3,068 m (10,066 ft) over sea level . The caldera was created by a massive eruption about 3100 years ago that generated about 5 km³ (6.54 billion cubic yards) of pyroclastic flow and covered the surrounding area in volcanic ash up to 20 cm (8 inches) deep. Activity continued until 650 CE. The lake, which is 200 m (656 ft) deep at its deepest point, is highly alkaline and contains little life. It has no known output. Lake Cuicocha contains four dacitic lava domes that form two steep forested islands: Yerovi and Teodoro Wolf, separated by the so-called “Channel of Dreams” (Spanish: Canal de los Sueños). Cuicocha forms the southern end of the Cotacachi-Cayapas Ecological Reserve.

MARSHALL ISLANDS

MARSHALL ISLANDS / AORŌKIN M̧AJEĻ

Definitive stamps.
Map of Ebon Atoll.
Third stamp in a set of 10, issued on 12.06.1984.
Face value: 5 cents of US dollar.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Size: 20 x 23 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 7A.
- Scott No. 37.
- StampWorld No. 7.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 7.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 47.

Ebon (Marshallese: Epoon) is a coral atoll of 22 islands in the Pacific Ocean, forming a legislative district of the Ralik Chain of the Marshall Islands. Its land area is 5.75 km² (2.22 sq mi), and it encloses a deep lagoon with an area of ​​104 km² (40 sq mi). A winding passage, the Ebon Channel, leads to the lagoon from the southwest edge of the atoll. In documents and accounts from the 1800s, it was also known as Boston, Covell's Group, Fourteen Islands, and Linnez. Ebon Atoll was visited by commercial whaling vessels in the 19th century. The first such vessel on record was the Newark in 1837. Missionaries sent by the American Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions in Boston began missionary activities in the Marshall Islands in 1857, establishing a mission at Ebon. The atoll was claimed by the Empire of Germany along with the rest of the Marshall Islands in 1884, and the Germans established a trading outpost. After World War I, the island came under the South Seas Mandate of the Empire of Japan, which had a garrison there late in World War II. At the end of WW II, Ebon Atoll became a part of the Trust Territory of the Pacific Islands under the control of the United States, until the independence of the Marshall Islands in 1986. In 2011, the population of the atoll was 706 people.

IVORY COAST

IVORY COAST / CÔTE D'IVOIRE (French West Africa).

Ébrié Lagoon and effigy of Marshal Pétain.
Second stamp in a set of 2, issued in 1941.
Face value: 2.50 French francs.
Engraving: Gaston Gandon (1872-1941) and Georges-Léo Degorce (1894-1943).
Printed by Institut de Gravure, Paris.
Printing: Recess.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 185.
- Scott No. 166.
- StampWorld No. 190.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 178e.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 170.

The Ébrié (or Ahizi) lagoon is a complex of long and narrow brackish water lagoons located in the south of the Ivory Coast, separated for almost its entire length from the Atlantic Ocean by a narrow coastal strip. Its area is approximately 560 km² (216 sq mi), with a length (east-west direction) of 130 km (80 mi), a maximum width of 7 km (4 mi), an average depth of 5 m (16 ft), a maximum depth of 20 m (66 ft). On its shores are cities such as Abidjan, Attécoubé,  Bingerville, Grand Bassam, Jacqueville, and Tiagba. At its eastern end it is connected by a canal to the Aghien and Potou lagoons, into which the river Mé flows. At the western end it is linked by the Asagni Canal to the Tagba lagoon and the Bandama river. The rivers Komoé and Agnéby flow into it, among others. The lagoon is connected to the Gulf of Guinea, in the Atlantic, by the Vridi Canal, navigable since 1950.

Marshal Philippe Pétain (1856-1951) had a very prominent role during WWI and later held important public positions. He was a puppet head of state of the Vichy regime (1940-1944), in France occupied by Nazi Germany, and maintained a collaborative policy with the Nazis, which at the end of the WWII led to his degradation and death sentence, which was later commuted for life imprisonment.

KIRIBATI

KITIBATI.

Islands of Kiribati.
Map of Kanton Island.
Third stamp in a set of 4, issued on 14.02.1984.
Face value: 35 cents of Kiribati dollar.
Printing: Offset lithography.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 437.
- Scott No. 438.
- StampWorld No. 116.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 217.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 116.

Republic of Kiribati (in Gilbertese, Ribaberiki Kiribati) is an independent island nation in the central Pacific Ocean. It comprises 32 atolls and one raised coral island, Banaba. Its total land area is 811 km² (313 sq mi) and the islands are dispersed over 3.5 million km² (1.4 million sq mi) on both sides of the equator. The permanent population is over 119,000 (2020). Kiribati gained its independence from the United Kingdom on July 12, 1979. The capital, South Tarawa, is the most populated area in the country and consists of several islets, connected by a long road. Kiribati is a member of the Pacific Community, the Commonwealth of Nations, the IMF and the World Bank, the Pacific Islands Forum, the Alliance of Small Island States, and a full member of the United Nations since 1999. Before its independence it was called the Gilbert Islands, in honor of Thomas Gilbert, who sighted some of the islands in 1788.

Kanton Atoll (also known as Canton Island or Abariringa), previously known as Mary Island, Mary Balcout's Island or Swallow Island, is the largest, northernmost, and the sole inhabited island of the Phoenix Islands, in the Republic of Kiribati. The island is a narrow ribbon of land around a lagoon, an area of 40 km² (15.44 sq mi). As of 2015, the population of the atoll was 20 people, down from 61 in 2000. The island's sole village is called Tebaronga. Kanton Island is included among the 8 Kiribati atolls declared in 2006 Phoenix Islands Protected Area, expanded in 2008. Modern Canton derives its name from the whaler Canton, which was wrecked on its outer shore in March 1854.

KIRIBATI

KIRIBATI.

Islands of Kiribati.
Map of Nikumaroro Island.
Second stamp in a set of 4, issued on 14.02.1984.
Face value: 30 cents of Kiribati dollar.
Printing: Offset lithography.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 436.
- Scott No. 437.
- StampWorld No. 115.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 216.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 115.

Republic of Kiribati (in Gilbertese, Ribaberiki Kiribati) is an independent island nation in the central Pacific Ocean. It comprises 32 atolls and one raised coral island, Banaba. Its total land area is 811 km2 (313 sq mi) and the islands are dispersed over 3.5 million km2 (1.4 million sq mi) on both sides of the equator. The permanent population is over 119,000 (2020). Kiribati gained its independence from the United Kingdom on July 12, 1979. The capital, South Tarawa, is the most populated area in the country and consists of several islets, connected by a long road. Kiribati is a member of the Pacific Community, the Commonwealth of Nations, the IMF and the World Bank, the Pacific Islands Forum, the Alliance of Small Island States, and a full member of the United Nations since 1999. Before its independence it was called the Gilbert Islands, in honor of Thomas Gilbert, who sighted some of the islands in 1788.

Nikumaroro, used to be known as Kemins Island or Gardner Island, it is a part of the Phoenix Islands, in the western Pacific Ocean. It is a remote, elongated, triangular coral atoll with profuse vegetation and a large central marine lagoon. It is about 7.5 km (4.7 mi) long by 2.5 km (1.6 mi) wide. The rim has two narrow entrances, both of which are blocked by a wide reef, which is dry at low tide. It is included among the 8 Kiribati atolls declared in 2006 Phoenix Islands Protected Area, expanded in 2008. The first record of a European sighting was made by the crew of the British whaling ship Eliza Ann in 1824. It is speculated that Amelia Earhart's plane, which in 1937 attempted her flight around the world with navigator Fred Noonan, may have crashed on this island, but no remains have been found to prove it.

GERMANY

GERMANY / DEUTSCHLAND.

Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park (Nationalpark Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft).
Stamp issued on 02.01.2015.
Face value: 0.85 euro.
Design: Dieter Ziegenfeuter (b. 1946).
Printed by Giesecke & Devrient, Leipzig.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Size: 44.2 x 26.2 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 3943.
- Michel No. 3126.
- Scott No. 2820.
- StampWorld No. 2868.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 3959.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 2940.

The Western Pomerania Lagoon Area National Park (Nationalpark Vorpommersche Boddenlandschaft), situated at the coast of the Baltic Sea, is largest national park of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern's federal state. It was established on October 1, 1990 and has an area of 805 km² (311 sq mi). It consists of several peninsulas, islands and lagoon shore areas in the Baltic Sea, belonging to the district of Vorpommern-Rügen. The territory of the park includes parts of the Darß, the Zingst peninsula, most of the island of Hiddensee and a narrow strip of land on the island of Rügen.

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Thanks to Fadda Giuseppe for his contribution.

VATICAN CITY

VATICAN CITY / CIVITATIS VATICANÆ - CITTÀ DEL VATICANO.

Protection of the Venetian world heritage.
Representation of Venice on a map by Egnatio Danti (1536-1586) kept in the Vatican Museums.
Stamps in a set of 6 issued on 06.06.1972.
Face value: 50 Italian lire x 4.

Catalogues
- Bolaffi No. 519.
- Michel Nos. 599-602.
- Sassone No. 519.
- Scott No. 520. (?)
- StampWorls Nos. 598-601.
- Stanley Gibbons No. MS580.
- Unificato No. 519.
- Yvert et Tellier Nos. 537-540.

Egnatio or Ignazio Danti is the name by which Pellegrino Rainaldi Danti (1536-1586), mathematician, astronomer, cosmographer, painter and Italian Catholic religious is known. He painted 30 maps of the regions of the world (based on the printed editions published by Giacomo Gastaldi, Abraham Ortelius, Gerardus Mercator and others) in the Guardaroba of the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence and, later, others of the regions of Italy in the newly built Vaticane's Galleria delle Carte Geografiche, a project started at the beginning of the year 1580 and completed 18 months later; Each map included a perspective of the most important city in the region (the stamp represents one of them).

HONDURAS

HONDURAS.

Map of Caratasca Lagoon (Laguna de Caratasca).
50th Anniversary of the Pan American Institute of Geography and History.
"1928-1978. Homenaje al Instituto Panamericano de Geografía e Historia".
Airmail. First stamp in a set of 4, issued on 15.09.1979.
Face value: 0.05 Honduran lempira.
Printing by Lito Maia, Porto, Portugal.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 954.
- Scott No. C676.
- StampWorld No. 987.

The Caratasca Lagoon is located in the department of Gracias a Dios, in northeastern Honduras. It covers an area of ​​1110 km² (430 sq mi) along the coast of the Caribbean Sea. In reality, the lagoon is made up of several lagoons interconnected by natural channels, including the Tara lagoon, which empties into the sea.

This lagoon and the region where it is located, the Mosquitia (Moskitia, or Mosquito Coast), caused a border conflict with Nicaragua at the end of the 19th century, and both countries agreed to resort to arbitration by King Alfonso XIII of Spain. The award agreed with Honduras; Nicaragua did not accept the ruling, but again lost the litigation in the Court of Justice of The Hague, which determined in 1928 that “the government of the Republic of Nicaragua is under an obligation to give effect to the award made on 23 december 1906 by his majesty the king of Spain and in particular to comply with any measures for this purpose which it will be for the Court to determine ”. (Great Britain and Colombia, which also claimed the territory, were also involved in the conflict.)