DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC / REPÚBLICA DOMINICANA.

50th Anniversary of the first Dominican airmail stamp.
Map of the Greater Antilles.
Airmail stamp issued on 06.06.1978.
Face value: 10 cents of Dominican peso.
Printing: Offset lithography.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 1188.
- Scott No. C270.
- StampWorld No. 1198.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1320.
- Yvert et Tellier No. PA 315.

Reproduction of the first airmail stamp issued by the Dominican Republic on May 31, 1928. The first postal flights from Santo Domingo went to Port-au-Prince (Haiti), Santiago de Cuba and San Juan of Puerto Rico.

HONDURAS

HONDURAS.

Blanca Jeannette Kawas National Park.
Airmail Minisheet issued on 08.02.2013 (dated 2012).
Face value: 3 x 15 and 3 x 15 (= 120) Honduran lempiras.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Published by HONDUCOR, Empresa de Correos de Honduras.

Catalogs
- Michel No. BL102.
- Scott No. C1307.
- StampWorld No. 2034/2039.

Blanca Jeannette Kawas National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Blanca Jeannette Kawas) is located in the municipality of Tela, on the northern Caribbean coast of the Atlántida department of Honduras. The park covers an area of 781.62 km² (301.79 sq mi) and has an maximal altitude of some 900 m (2,953 ft). It was established on November 4, 1994 as Punta Sal National Park. Its name was changed to Blanca Jeannette Kawas National Park in honor of Jeannette Kawas, an environmental activist who was murdered on February 6, 1995 for her work trying to keep the palm plantations out of the park. The park is made up of varied marine, terrestrial and wetlands ecosystems with a large number of species. These ecosystems include beaches, tropical forests, inundated forests, mangrove forests, lagoons and rivers.

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

GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC

GERMAN DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC / DEUTSCHE DEMOKRATISCHE REPUBLIK.

Hydrological structures.
Rappbode Dam (Rappbodetalsperre).
Last stamp in a set of 4, issued on 21.01.1986.
Face value: 70 GDR pfennig.
Printing: Photogravure and recess.
Print: 2,100,000 copies.
Size: 27.5 x 33 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 2996.
- Scott No. 2519.
- StampWorld No. 2738.
- Stanley Gibbons No. E2706.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 2619.

The Rappbode Dam (German: Rappbodetalsperre) is the largest dam in the Harz region as well as the highest dam in Germany. It is located on the course of the river Rappbode. It was built between 1952 and 1959. Its height is 106 m (348 ft) and its length is 415 m (1,362 ft). The lake behind the dam acts primarily as a reserve drinking water reservoir for the towns east of the Harz. The reservoir also contributes to generation of hydro-electric power to a small extent.

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

CHILE

CHILE.

International Geophysical Year 1957-1958.
Map of the Antarctic territory claimed by Chile.
Airmail. Second stamp in a set of 2, issued on 26.12.1958.
Face value: 50 Chilean pesos.
Printed by Casa de Moneda de Chile.
Printing: Recess.
Print: 3,000,000 copies.
Size: 30 x 33 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 546,
- Scott No. C214.
- StampWorld No. 539.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 474.
- Yvert et Tellier No. PA 184.

On December 1, 1959, the twelve countries that had carried out scientific activities in and around Antarctica during the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year signed the Antarctic Treaty in Washington. The Treaty entered into force on June 23, 1961, and has been accepted by many other nations. The Treaty recognizes, among other things, the interest of all humankind that Antarctica continue to be used exclusively for peaceful purposes and shall not become the scene or object of international discord. The signatory countries were: Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Chile, France, Japan, New Zealand, Norway, South Africa, the Soviet Union, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The Chilean Antarctic Territory or Chilean Antarctica (Spanish: Territorio Chileno Antártico, Antártica Chilena) is the territory in Antarctica claimed by Chile. It ranges from 53° West to 90° West and from the South Pole to the 60° South parallel, partially overlapping the Argentine and British Antarctic claims. It is administered by the Cabo de Hornos municipality in the South American mainland. The territory claimed by Chile covers the South Shetland Islands, Antarctic Peninsula, called O'Higgins Land (Tierra de O'Higgins in Spanish) in Chile, and adjacent islands, the Alexander Island, Charcot Island, and part of the Ellsworth Land, among others. It has an area of 1,250,257.6 km² (482,727.2 sq mi). Its boundaries are defined by a Decree issued on November 6, 1940, and published on June 21, 1955 by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

SWITZERLAND

SWITZERLAND / SCHWEITZ - SUISSE - SVIZZERA - SVIZRA.

Pro Patria.
Lake Aegeri (Ägerisee).
Third stamp in a set of 5, issued on 01.06.1955.
Face value: 0.20 + 0.10 Swiss franc.
Printing: Photogavure.
Printed by Courvoisier-Attinger Arts Graphiques S.A., Biel/Bienne.
Print: 2,974,109 copies.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 615.
- Scott No. B244.
- StampWorld No. 609.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 564.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 564.
- Zumstein No. B73.

The Ägerisee (Lake Aegeri) is a 7.3 km² (2.8 sq mi) lake of glacial origin in the Schwyz Alps, at 724 m (2,375 ft) above sea level. Its length is 5.4 km (3.4 mi), its maximum width is 1.4 km (0.87 mi), and its mean depth is 49 m (161 ft). It belongs to the canton of Zug. Its main tributary is the Hüribach and empties through the Lorze. On its banks are the municipalities of Oberägeri and Unterägeri. Since 1992 it has been used as a drinking water reservoir.

SOVEREIGN MILITARY ORDER OF MALTA

SOVEREIGN MILITARY ORDER OF MALTA/
SOVRANO MILITARE ORDINE DI MALTA.

World Meeting of the Knights of the Order, October 1989.
Map of Malta. 
Second stamp in a set of 3, issued on 17.10.1989.
Face value: 3 SMOM scudi.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Printed by Printex Ltd., Qormi (Malta).
Print: 80,000.
Size: 60 x 40 mm.

Catalogs
- StampWorld No. 412.
- Unificato No. 314.

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Thanks to Vairo Gregori for his contribution (https://ternifil.org/).

ICELAND

ICELAND / ÍSLAND.

International Year of Mountains.
Mount Snæfell.
Stamp issued on 07.03.2002.
No face value: postage for letters up to 20 g.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 500,000 copies.
Size: 36 x 26 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 989.
- Michel No. 1002.
- Scott No. 959.
- StampWorld No. 1003.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1014.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 932.

Mount Snæfell is a 1,446 m (4,744 ft) high stratovolcano, located in western Iceland, at the end of the Snæfellsnes peninsula (Vesturland region), within the Snæfellsjökull National Park (in Icelandic, Þjóðgarðurinn Snæfellsjökull), on the shores of Faxaflói Bay, established in 2001. The top of the volcano is covered by the Snæfellsjökull glacier, visible on the stamp. Jules Verne, in his novel Journey to the Center of the Earth, places the entrance to the subsoil in the crater of this volcano (based on a manuscript by the 16th century Icelandic alchemist Arne Saknussemm).

PERU

 PERU / PERÚ.

Peruvian Exhibition in Paris.
Illustrated map of Peru.
Airmail. Last stamp in a set of 4, issued on 21.05.1958.
Face value: 2.50 Peruvian soles.
Printed by French Administration of Postal Services and Telecommunications (PTT), Paris.
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 3,000,000 copies.
Size: 30 x 40 mm.

Catalogs
- Bustamante No. A143.
- Michel No. 571.
- Scott No. C157,
- StampWorld No. 561.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 818.
- Yvert et Tellier No. PA 141.

From May 20 to July 20, 1958, the exhibition "The Treasures of Peru" was held at the Petit Palais in Paris, an event organized to promote the history and culture of the country and at the same time, tourism and foreign investment. The sample consisted of almost 3,000 objects from private collections and Peruvian public entities: ceramic pieces, textiles and funerary objects from ancestral cultures, a collection of gold jewelery from the Inca empire, colonial furniture, paintings, photographs, typical dresses, sculptures, crafts, etc.

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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.

BELARUS

BELARUS / БЕЛАРУСЬ.

Struve Geodetic Arc.
Geodetic triangulations on a simplified map of Belarus.
Minisheet issued on 14.09.2017.
Face value: 3 Belarusian ruble.
Design: Yauheniya Biadonik.
Printing: Offset litography and hot stamping.
Print: 12,000 copies.
Size: 73 x 86 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. A1222.
- Belarus Post No. BL 126.
- Michel No. BL 153.
- StampWorld No. 1220.
- Yvert et Tellier No. BF 149.

The Struve Geodesic Arc is a chain of topographic triangulations that extends from the vicinity of Hammerfest, in northern Norway, to the Black Sea through ten countries and more than 2,820 km (1,752 mi). It was used to make the first precise measurement of a meridian. The chain was established and used by the German-Baltic scientist Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve between the years 1816 to 1855 to establish the exact size and shape of the earth. The first point of the Arch is at the Tartu Observatory in Estonia, where Struve did much of the research on it. The triangulation chain measurement comprises 258 principal triangles and 265 geodetic vertices. In 2005, the chain was inscribed on the World Heritage List as a memorable ensemble made up of 34 commemorative plaques or obelisks built from the 265 points of the main station.

Friedrich Georg Wilhelm von Struve, born on April 15, 1793 and died on November 23, 1864, studied at the University of Dorpat (present-day Tartu, in Estonia, then in the Russian Empire) and did his research as an astronomer at the observatory of that city, of which he was director. In 1831 he published Beschreibung der Breitengradmessung in den Ostseeprovinzen Russlands ('Description of latitude measurement of the Baltic provinces of Russia').

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Thanks to Kazimierz R. Leszczyński (http://leszkarozdub.blogspot.com) and Віктар Анішчык for your contribution.

SWEDEN

SWEDEN / SVERIGE.

Mountain World.
Mount Tolpagorni.
Last stamp in a set of 4, issued on 27.03.1984.
Face value: 2,25 Swedish krona.
Design: T. Abrahamsson.
Engraving: Martin Mörck (b. 1955).
Printing: Recess.
Print: 18,800,000 copies.
Size: 27 x 32 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 1269.
- Facit No. 1294.
- Michel No. 1275.
- Scott No. 1491.
- StampWorld No. 1277.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1188.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1259.

Mount Tolpagorni (Sami: Duolbagorni), at 1,662 m (5,453 ft), in the Kiruna Municipality, belongs to the Kebnekaise (Sami: Giebmegáisi or Giebnegáisi) massif, in Swedish Lapland, about 150 km (93 mi) north of the Arctic Circle and near the Norwegian border. At its top there is a depression in the rock, round like a cauldron, which resembles a volcanic crater; however, the mountain is not volcanic in origin.

TURKEY

TURKEY / TÜRKİYE (Ottoman Empire).

Definitive stamps.
Map of Dardanelles Strait.
Sixth stamp in a set of 8, issued on 11.10.1917.
Face value: 50 Ottoman para.
Printed: Typography.
(Printed in Vienna.)

Catalogs
- Michel No. 634.
- Scott No. 428.
- StampWorld No. 649.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 921.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 577.

The Dardanelles Strait (in Turkish, Çanakkale Boğazı), the Hellespont (Ἑλλήσποντος) of classical Greece, is a strait located in Turkey, between the Gallipoli peninsula (in Turkish, Gelibolu) and Anatolia. It connects the Aegean Sea with the Sea of Marmara. It measures 61 km (37.90 mi) in length, between 1.6 and 6.5 km (99.4 and 4 mi) wide, and has an average depth of about 50 m (164 ft). Historically, it has had a strategic role since ancient times. In 1915, during the First World War, the Battle of Gallipoli or the Dardanelles took place there, during which British, French, Australian and New Zealand troops tried, without success, to wrest control of the strait from the Ottoman Empire.

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

NEW CALEDONIA

NEW CALEDONIA / NOUVELLE-CALÉDONIE - KANAKY.

5th South Pacific Conference, Pago Pago.
Map of South Pacific Islands.
Stamp issued on 13.07.1962.
Face value: 15 CFP francs.
Design: Pierrette Lambert (b. 1928)
Engraving: Delrieu.
Printing: Photogravure.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 382.
- Scott No. 321.
- StampWorld No. 382.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 365.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 305.

The Fifth South Pacific Conference was held in Pago Pago, American Samoa, in July 1962. It was organized by the South Pacific Commission (?), founded in Nouméa (New Caledonia) in 1947. [Incomplete and not verified information. Sorry!]

GREECE

GREECE / ЕΛΛΑΣ.

Landscapes.
The Samaria Gorge, Crete.
Ninth stamp in a set of 15, issued on 15.12.1979.
Face value: 10 Greek drachma.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 26,000,000 copies.
Size: 26 x 37 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 1413.
- Karamitsos No. 1511.
- Michel No. 1395.
- Scott No. 1336.
- StampWorld No. 1377.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1498.
- Unificato No. 1373.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1373.

The Samaria Gorge (Greek: Φαράγγι Σαμαριάς) is a National Park of Greece since 1962 on the island of Crete and a World's Biosphere Reserve. The gorge is in southwest Crete in the regional unit of Chania (Χανιά). It was created by a small river running between the White Mountains (Λευκά Όρη) and Mount Volakias (Βολακιας). The gorge is 16 km (9.94 mi) long, begins at an altitude of 1,250 m (4,101 ft) at the northern entrance and ends on the shores of the Libyan Sea at Agia Roumeli (Αγιά Ρουμέλη). The most famous part of the gorge (represented on the stamp) is the stretch known as the Gates (Πόρτες), where the sides of the gorge close to a width of only four meters and rise to a height of almost 300 m (980 ft).

FINLAND

FINLAND / SUOMI.

Reincorporation of the Porkkala area to Finland.
Map of Porkkala Peninsula and lighthouse.
Stamp issued on 26.01.1956.
Face value: 25 Finnish markka.
Design: Aarne Karjalainen (1898-1965).
Engraving: Birger Ekholm.
Printing: Recess.
Print: 1,996,519 copies.
Size: 24 x 34 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 460.
- LaPe Finland No. 453.
- Michel No. 453.
- Scott No. 335.
- StampWorld No. 460.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 553.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 436.

Porkkala (Swedish: Porkala; Russian: Порккала) is a peninsula located in the Gulf of Finland, about 30 km (19 mi) from Helsinki. In the first half of the 20th century it had a great strategic value, since the coastal artillery located in it could cover more than half of the Gulf of Finland, attack the coast of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic, only 36 km (22.4 mi ) away, and block maritime connections between Leningrad (Saint Petersburg) and the Baltic Sea. At the end of World War II, the Soviet Union secured the right to maintain a naval base at Porkkala as established in the Moscow armistice that in 1944 ended the Continuation War. According to the armistice clauses, reiterated in the Paris Peace Treaties of 1947, the area would be ceded to the Soviets for 50 years. However, on September 19, 1955, a bilateral agreement was signed that put it under Finnish control as of January 26, 1956. The stamp commemorates this agreement.

EGYPT

EGYPT / مِصر

2nd Anniversary of the economic cooperation treaty with Sudan.
Simplified map of the course of the River Nile.
Stamp issued on 12.10.1984.
Face value: 3 Egyptian piastre.
Printing: Offset lithography.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 1488.
- Scott No. 1261.
- StampWorld No. 983.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1557.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1253.

The use of water from the Nile River has always produced disputes and has forced the establishment of agreements, sometimes covered by broader economic cooperation agreements. As early as 1959, three years after Sudan gained full independence, the two countries signed an agreement for the Full Utilization of Nile Waters, which was followed by a protocol for its implementation in 1960. In October 1982 Egypt and Sudan established an Economic Integration Charter with three institutions to handle the macanism to achieve the rather ambitious goal of total economic, social, political and military integration between the two countries. The parliament of the Nile Valley was the legislative Branch of the council.

AFGHANISTAN

AFGHANISTAN / افغانستان

Tourism promotion.
Flag and map of Afghanistan.
Third stamp in a set of 3, issued on 12.07.1964.
Face value: 3 afghani.
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 300,000 copies.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 922.
- Scott No. 689.
- StampWorld No. 951.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 526.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 766.

Afghanistan is a multi-ethnic landlocked country in the interior of Asia. Its capital is Kabul. It shares borders with China, Pakistan, Iran, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Tajikistan. There are no precise data on its total area, which would be, according to different sources, between 645,800 and 652,200 km² (249,345 and 251,815 sq mi). Its estimated population would also be, according to sources, between 28,200,000 and 33,610,000 inhabitants. Since the 1970s, the country has been embroiled in a series of military conflicts, the most extensive of which have been the Afghan-Soviet war (1979-1989) and the US invasion (2001-2014).

FRANCE

FRANCE.

Lake and town of Gérardmer, Vosges.
Stamp issued on 15.04.2000.
Face value: 3 French francs / 0.46 euro.
Engraving: Claude Jumelet (b. Paris, 1946).
Printed by ITVF (Imprimerie des Timbres-poste et des Valeurs Fiduciaires), Boulazac.
Printing: Recess.
Print: 10,024,180 copies.
Size: 40 x 30 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 3545.
- Michel No. 3452.
- Scott No. 2762.
- StampWorld No. 3430.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 3644.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 3311.

Gérardmer is a commune in the department of Vosges (Grand Est). Its population (2018 census) was 7,802 people. It is an important winter sports center. Its elliptical lake, located at an altitude of 660 m (2,165 ft) is of glacial origin, has an area of 1.15 km² (0.44 sq mi), its maximum length is 2,020 m (6,627 ft) and its maximum width 750 m (2,460 ft). Its maximum depth is 38.40 m (126 ft). Fed by three streams, it empties into the Jamagne River.

ESTONIA

ESTONIA / EESTI.

Estonian lighthouses.
Juminda lighthouse in Juminda Peninsula (map).
Stamp issued on 08.03.2007.
Face value: 6 Estonian kroon / 0.38 euro.
Design: Roman Matkiewicz (b. Tallinn, 27.02.1966).
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 735,000 copies.
Size: 26 x 37.5 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 614.
- Michel No. 578. 
- StampWorld No. 619.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 543.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 541.

The Juminda Peninsula (Estonian: Juminda poolsaar) is located on the coast of northern Estonia, in the Gulf of Finland, between Kolga and Hara Bay (Harju County). At its end are Cape Juminda and the lighthouse of the same name. The peninsula is almost 13 km (8 mi) long and its width in the south is about 6 km (3.7 mi). Much of its surface is covered by coniferous forests. Its central part is mostly rocky, and there are also sand dunes. In the southern part of the peninsula is the Aabla (or Keitma) swamp, where there is a giant rock called Majakivi, the third largest in Estonia. The Juminda Peninsula belongs to the Lahemaa National Park. The lighthouse (Estonian: Juminda tuletorn), built in 1937, is a cylindrical tower originally 24 m (79 ft) high; 8 m (26 ft) were added to it in 2006, so it currently reaches 32 m (105 ft).

INDONESIA

INDONESIA.

Musical instruments.
Borneo (Kalimantan) Map and sape.
Eighth stamp in a set of 16, issued on 01.02.1967.
Face value: 4 Indonesian rupiah.
Printing: Photogravure.
Size: 25 x 32 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 569.
- Scott No. 712.
- StampWorld No. 611.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1147.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 505.
- Zonnebloem No. 570.

Borneo (Indonesian: Kalimantan) is the third largest island in the world and the largest in Asia. At the geographic center of maritime Southeast Asia, relative to the main Indonesian islands, it lies north of Java, west of Sulawesi, and east of Sumatra. The island is politically divided between three countries: Malaysia and Brunei in the north and Indonesia in the south.

The Indonesian portion occupies 73% of the island, it is officially called Kalimantan and is administratively divided into five provinces: Kalimantan Barat, Kalimantan Tengah, Kalimantan Selatan, Kalimantan Timur and Kalimantan Utara. Its population, in 2019, was 16,379,977 inhabitants. It has coasts on the Java and Celebes Seas and on the Macassar Strait, which separates Borneo from Sulawesi.

The sape (sapeh or hape) is a traditional lute of the communities who live on the banks of the rivers of East Kalimantan. Sapes are carved from a single bole of wood, and many modern instruments reaching over a metre in length. Initially the sape was a fairly limited instrument with two strings and only three frets. Its use was restricted to a form of ritualistic music to induce trance. Gradually the sape became a social instrument to accompany dances or as a form of entertainment. Today, three, four or five-string instruments are used, with a range of more than three octaves.