13/12/2021

BASUTOLAND


BASUTOLAND (now Lesotho).

Definitive stamps.
Orange River and Queen Elizabeth II.
Second stamp in a set of 11, issued on 18.10.1954.
Face value: 1 British penny.
Printed by De La Rue & Co. Ltd., Basingstoke (England).
Printing: Recess.
Size: 32 x 26 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 47.
- Scott No. 47.
- StampWorld No. 47.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 44.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 47.

The Orange is the longest river in southern Africa. Its total length is 2,432 km (1,511 miles), its basin stretching from Lesotho to South Africa and Namibia to the north. It has its sources in the Drakensberg Mountains in Lesotho and flows west through South Africa to the Atlantic Ocean. The river is part of the international borders between South Africa and Lesotho and between South Africa and Namibia.

12/12/2021

POLAND


POLAND / POLSKA.

Tourist attractions.
Dunajec River Gorge in Pieniny Mountains.
Sixth stamp in a set of 9, issued on 15.09.1966.
Face value: 1.15 Polish złotych.
Design: Tadeusz Michaluk (b. 1938).
Engraving: Barbara Kowalska.
Printed by PWPW (Polska Wytwórnia Papierów Wartościowych), Warszawa.
Printing: Recess.
Print: 32,000,000 copies.
Size: 32 x 26 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 1595.
- Fischer No. 1562.
- Michel No. 1710.
- Scott No. 1444.
- StampWorld No. 1704.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1689.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1560.

The Dunajec River Gorge (Polish: Przełom Dunajca; Slovak: Prielom Dunajca) runs through the Pieniny Mountains (a section of Western Berkids) in the south of Poland and the north of Slovakia (as Dunajec is the border river between the two countries in the area). The gorge is located within the Pieniny National Park and is characterized by some of the most interesting geological and geomorphological structures and area-specific natural ecosystems with little anthropogenic influence.

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Thanks to Sylvester Dulewski for his contribution (https://birdsposta.blogspot.com/).

11/12/2021

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.

10/12/2021

ALDERNEY

ALDERNEY.

Historical maps.
Herman Moll's Map (1724).
First stamp in a set of 5, issued on 07.07.1989.
Face value: 12 Guernsey penny.
Design: John E. Cooter.
Printed by Joh. Enschedé Stamps, Haarlem, Netherlands.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Size: 48.3 x 32.3 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 37.
- Michel No. 37.
- Scott No. 37.
- StampWorld No. 37.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 37.
- Unificato No. 37.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 37.

Herman Moll (1654? -1732) was a cartographer, engraver, and publisher, probably originally from the Netherlands. In 1678 he opened a book and map store in London. He produced maps from his studies of the work of other cartographers. In the 1690s he published his first major independent work, the successful Thesaurus Geographicus, a comprehensive description of the Earth from compilations by the leading geographers and travelers of his day. He later published a book with 56 new and accurate maps of the British Isles, and between 1711 and 1717 he published, in monthly deliveries, his Atlas Geographus, which was followed by other outstanding works.

09/12/2021

BULGARIA


BULGARIA / БЪЛГАРИЯ.

Vasil Kolarov (now: Golyan Beglik) Dam.
First stamp in a set of 5, issued on 16.05.1952.
Face value: 4 Bulgarian stotinki.
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 15,000,000 copies.
Size: 30.5 x 26.5 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 813.
- Scott No. 770.
- StampWorld No. 803.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 857.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 710.

Golyam Beglik is a 4,126 km² (1,593 sq mi) reservoir on the Kriva River located in the Pazardzhik Province, in the western Rhodope Mountains. Construction of the dam began in 1956 and was officially inaugurated on November 18, 1951 under the name of the communist leader Vasil Kolarov, a name that remained until June 11, 1999. It was originally designed as an irrigation dam, but later used for hydroelectric plants. The levee is 46.50 m (152.56 ft) high and 191 m (627 ft) long. The top of the wall is 1,528.5 m (5,015 ft) above sea level.

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

08/12/2021

VENEZUELA

VENEZUELA.

Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries Conference, Caracas.
Auyán-tepuy and Carrao River.
Fifth stamp in a set of 10, issued on 26.09.2000.
Face value: 300 Venezuelan bolívares.
Design: Ana Carolina Palmero.
Printed by Gráficas Armitano, Caracas.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 20,000 copies.
Size: 38 x 32 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 3398.
- Scott No. 1616e.
- StampWorld No. 3427.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 3654.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 2169E.

Auyán-tepui is a tepui in Bolívar state, in the Guiana Highlands, within Canaima National Park, with a summit area of 666.9 km2 (257.5 sq mi). The unevenly heart-shaped summit plateau of Auyán-tepui is heavily inclined, rising from around 1,600 m (5,200 ft) in the northwest to a maximum of 2,450 m (8,040 ft) in the southeast. The mountain hosts a number of extensive cave systems.

The Carrao River is part of the Orinoco River basin. It is well known for one of its main tributaries, the Churún River, which feeds the Angel Falls. It flows mainly through the Canaima National Park. It empties into the Caroní River, one of the main tributaries of the Orinoco in Venezuela.

07/12/2021

SPAIN


SPAIN / ESPAÑA.

Issue EUROPA (C.E.P.T).
Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park.
Second stamp in a set of 2, issued on 02.05.1977.
Face value: 12 Spanish pesetas.
Printed by F.N.M.T. (Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre), Madrid.
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 8,000,000 copies.
Size: 45 x 33 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 2399.
- Edifil No. 2414.
- Michel No. 2300.
- Scott No. 2042.
- StampWorld No. 2306.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 2463.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 2053.

Ordesa and Monte Perdido National Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional de Ordesa y Monte Perdido; Aragonese: Parque Nacional d’Ordesa y d’as Tres Serols) is situated in the Pyrenees, into the Huesca Province (Aragon). There has been a National Park in the Ordesa Valley since August 16, 1918. Its protected area was enlarged on July 13, 1982 to cover the whole region (including Monte Perdido), amounting to 156.08 km2 (6,026.28 sq mi). Its altitude ranges between 700 m (2,296 ft) on the Bellos River and 3,348 m (7,375 ft) on the Monte Perdido. In 1977 it was declared a Biosphere Reserve, in 1988 a Special Protection Area for birds and in 1997 a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. The basic morphology of the park is due to two orogenies, but mainly to the alpine folding and elevation of the Tertiary era, later shaped by glacial erosion during the Quaternary era, giving rise to a series of very defined glacial cirques and valleys, such as the Ordesa Valley (represented on the stamp) and the Pineta Valley.

06/12/2021

ITALY


ITALY / ITALIA.

Completion of the Flumendosa - Mulargia Irrigation System.
Map of Sardinia, Nuraghe Arrubiu dam, and peasant.
Stamp issued on 01.02.1958.
Face value: 25 Italian lire.
Design: Corrado Mancioli (1904-1968) & Amilcare Santini (1910-1975).
Engraving: Mario Colombati (1912-?).
Printed by Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato, Officina Carte e Valori, Roma.
Printing: Recess.
Print: 10,000,000 copies.
Size: 40 x 24 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 1004.
- Sassone No. 826.
- Scott No. 738.
- StampWorld No. 980.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 961.
- Unificato No. 826.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 753.

The Flumendosa is a river of southern Sardinia. With a length of 127 km (79 mi), it is the second longest river of the island behind the Tirso. Its springs are located in the Gennargentu massif, at the foot of the Monte Armidda; it flows into the Tyrrhenian Sea. Its path is barred at two different points by massive dams. The first dam, built between 1948 and 1949, forms the Upper Flumendosa Lake. The second dam, built between 1952 and 1958 at the height of the Nuraghe Arrubiu, is used for the production of electricity and irrigation. A 6 km (3.73 mi) long tunnel connects it to the nearby lake Mulargia, where a system of water pipes begins, partly in the tunnel and partly on the surface, which carries water to irrigate the plain at the Campidano di Cagliari and to supplying drinking water to the city of Cagliari and about forty smaller towns.

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Thanks to Fadda Giuseppe for his contribution.

05/12/2021

GERMAN REICH


GERMAN REICH / DEUTSCHES REICH.

Winter Charity: Ostmark Landscapes and Alpine Flowers.
Mount Grossglockner, Carinthia & East Tyrol, Austria, and edelweiss.
Fourth stamp in a set of 9, issued on 18.11.1938.
Face value: 6 + 4 German reichspfennig.
Design and engraving: Maria & Werner von Axster-Heudtlass.
Printing: Recess.
Size: 27 x 32 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 675.
- Michel No. 678.
- Scott No. B126.
- StampWorld No. 670.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 666.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 619.

The Grossglockner is, at 3,798 m (12,461 ft) above the Adriatic Sea, is the highest mountain in Austria and the highest mountain in the Alps east of the Brenner Pass. It is part of the larger Glockner Group of the Hohe Tauern range, situated along the main ridge of the Central Eastern Alps, on the border of the Austrian states of Carinthia and East Tyrol. The Pasterze, Austria's most extended glacier, lies on the Grossglockner's eastern slope. The first known ascent took place on July 28, 1800, by five members of an expedition led by Count Franz-Xaver of Salm-Raifferscheid: Sepp and Martin Klotz, Martin Reicher, Matthias Hautzendorfer and another person from the the identity is unknown.

A typical alpine flower, the edelweiss (Leontopolium nivale), appears on the stamp.

04/12/2021

LEBANON


LEBANON / لُبْنَان

Lebanese Landscapes.
Jounieh Bay.
Airmail. Second stamp in a set of 10, issued on 27.06.1947.
Face value: 10 Lebanese piastre.
Design: M. Farrouk.
Engraving: I. C., Beyrouth.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Size: 40 x 25 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 362.
- Scott No. C120.
- StampWorld No. 363.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 343.
- Yvert et Tellier No. PA20.

Jounieh (جونيه) Bay is located on the Mediterranean coast, a few kilometers south of the Lebanese capital, Beirut. On its shores is the city of the same name, capital of the Keserwan-Jbeil Governorate, famous for its port, its spa, its casino and its nightlife. The largest population of Maronite Catholics in the world is concentrated there. It is estimated that in 2016 the city had a population of 115,000 inhabitants (430,000 with its metropolitan area). On its territory is the Beirut International Airport. A cable car takes passengers up the mountain to the shrine of Our Lady of Lebanon in Harissa.

03/12/2021

ANDORRA


ANDORRA (Spanish Post).

Tourism.
Encamp Valley.
First stamp in a set of 4, issued on 04.07.1972.
Face value: 1 Spanish peseta.
Printed by F.N.M.T. (Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre), Madrid.
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 350,000 copies.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 70.
- Edifil No. 73.
- Michel No. 72.
- Scott No. 63.
- StampWorld No. 70.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 68.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 65. 

The Encamp Valley (Catalan, Vall d'Encamp), also known as the East Valley (Catalan: Vall d'Orient) is located in the Andorran parish of Encamp, in the center of the country, northwest of its capital, Andorra la Vella. It is formed by the Valira d'Orient river and there are several towns, including Encamp (approximately 8,800 inhabitants) and Les Bons (1,180 inhabitants), at about 1,300 m (4,265 ft) above sea level. The road that leads to France through Pas de la Casa runs through it.

SWITZERLAND


SWITZERLAND / SCHWEITZ - SUISSE - SVIZZERA - SVIZRA.

Swiss Alps.
Mount Matterhorn - Cervino - Cervin.
First stamp in a set of 2, issued on 01.06.1965.
Face value: 10 cents of Swiss franc.
Design: Edi Hauri (1911-1988).
Printed by Courvoisier-Attinger Arts Graphiques S.A., Biel/Bienne.
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 10,057,000 copies.
Size: 36 x 26 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 820.
- Scott No. 467.
- StampWorld No. 814.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 586.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 753.
- Zumstein No. 433.

The Matterhorn; in Italian, Cervino; in French Cervin, is an isolated mountain of the Alps, straddling the main watershed and border between Switzerland and Italy. It is a large, near-symmetric pyramidal peak whose summit is 4,478 m (14,692 ft) high. The mountain overlooks the Swiss town of Zermatt, in the canton of Valais, to the north-east and the Italian town of Breuil-Cervinia in the Aosta Valley to the south. The first ascent of the Matterhorn was in July 1865 from Zermatt by a party led by Edward Whymper; just three days later, on 17 July 1865, Jean-Antoine Carrel and Jean-Baptiste Bich reached the summit from the Italian side.

02/12/2021

ARGENTINA


ARGENTINA.

Argentine Provinces.
Sierra de la Ventana, Buenos Aires Province.
First stamp in a set of 4, issued on 08.10.1977.
Face value: 30 Argentine pesos ley.
Printed by Casa de Moneda, Buenos Aires.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 500,000 copies.
Size: 66 x 30 mm.

Catalogs
- Cefiloza No. 1321.
- Götig and Jalil No. 1799.
- Michel No. 1312.
- Scott No. 1151.
- StampWorld No. 1336.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1570.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1101.

The Ventania System belongs to the Southern Sierras of Buenos Aires Province. The mountain range system has a length of 195 km (121.16 mi) from northwest to southwest. Its highest peaks are Cerro Tres Picos, 1,239 m (4,065 ft), Destierro Primero, 1,172 m (3,845 ft), Cerro Ventana, 1,134 m (3,720 ft), Napostá Grande, 1,108 m (3,635 ft), Cura Malal Grande, 1,037 m (3,402 ft), and Cura Malal Chico, 1,000 m (3,281 ft). British naturalist Charles Darwin described his ascent of the Sierra de la Ventana range in the sixth chapter of his work The Voyage of the Beagle.

01/12/2021

SWEDEN


SWEDEN / SVERIGE.

750th Anniversary of Stockholm.
Stadsholmen Island in an ancient gravure.
Second stamp in a set of 2, issued on 21.03.2002.
Face value: 10 Swedish krona.
Design and engraving: Lars Sjööblom (b. 1956). 
Printed by Sweden Post Stamps.
Printing: Recess.
Size: 31 x 31 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 2214.
- Facit No. 2307.
- Michel No. 2290.
- Scott No. 2433.
- StampWorld No. 2292.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 2216.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 2272.

Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, is currently made up of 14 islands where Lake Mälaren empties into the Baltic Sea. The first mention of the city ─ which was reduced then to the island of Stadsholmen (the one that reproduces the engraving on the stamp), where the current Gamla Stan is located ─ is from the year 1252. It was founded by Birger Jarl, with the aim of to protect Sweden from invasions by foreign fleets and to be able to put an end to looting in towns on the shores of the lake. The first building built was a fort that controlled maritime traffic between the sea and the lake. Under the influence of Magnus Ladulås, it prospered thanks to its commercial relations with Lübeck. It was part of the Hanseatic League. In 1270, it is described in documents as a true city, and in 1289 it is already the largest city in Sweden.

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

ICELAND


ICELAND / ÍSLAND.

Norden issue.
Urriðafoss (waterfall).
Second stamp in a set of 2, issued on 24.03.1983.
Face value: 5 krónor.
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 1,000,000 copies.
Size: 39 x 26 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 597.
- Michel No. 597.
- Scott No. 572.
- StampWorld No. 598.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 627.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 550.

Urriðafoss is a waterfall located in the river Þjórsá in southwest Iceland. With a flow rate of 360 m³ / s, it has the highest average water flow of any waterfall in the country. The highest part of the waterfall is 6 m (19.68 ft) high. In winter, ice floes up to 20 m (65.6 ft) thick can form. Currently it is planned to build an underground hydroelectric plant to produce energy from the waterfall, which is a controversial decision because it could make it disappear and is the reason for protests by the population of the area.

30/11/2021

RHODESIA


RHODESIA (now Zimbabwe).

Development.
Kariba Dam.
Nineth stamp in a set of 14, issued on 17.02.1970.
Face value: 15 cents of Rhodesian dollar.
Design: Rose Martin.
Printed by Mardon Printers, Salisbury.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Size: 30 x 27 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 96.
- Scott No. 288.
- StampWorld No. 96.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 447.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 190.

The Kariba Dam is a double-curved concrete arch dam in the Kariba Gorge of the Zambezi River Basin between Zambia and Zimbabwe. The project was planned and implemented by the Government of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The dam is 128 m (420 ft) high and 579 m (1,900 ft) long, and it forms Lake Kariba, which stretches for 280 km (170 miles) and contains 185 km3 (150,000,000 acre⋅ft) of water. The first phase of the dam (Kariba South) was built between 1955 and 1959. Final construction and the addition of Kariba North Power were not completed until 1977 due to mainly political problems. The creation of the reservoir forced the resettlement of some 57,000 people who lived along the Zambezi on both sides. From 1958 to 1961, Operation Noah captured and removed around 6,000 large and numerous small animals threatened by the rising waters of the lake.

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Thanks to Óscar Valencia for his contribution.

29/11/2021

NEW ZEALAND


NEW ZEALAND / AOTEAROA.

Centennial of the National Parks Movement.
Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park.
Second stamp in a set of 4, issued on 17.06.1987.
Face value: 80 cents of New Zealand dollar.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Size: 30 x 35 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 997.
- Scott No. 877.
- StampWorld No. 1017.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1429.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 961.

Aoraki / Mount Cook National Park is in the South Island of New Zealand, near the town of Twizel. The area was gazetted as a national park in October 1953 and consists of reserves that were established as early as 1887 to protect the area's significant vegetation and landscape. The park stretches for about 60 km (37 mi) along the southwest-northeast direction of the Southern Alps, covering 722 km2 (279 sq mi) on the southeastern side of the main spine of the Alps. Glaciers cover 40% of the park area, notably the Tasman Glacier. It is also in the park area the New Zealand's highest mountain, the Aoraki / Mount Cook, at 3,724 m (12,218 ft). On the stamp there is also a drawing of a buttercup (Ranunculus bulbosus), a characteristic flower of the area.

The National Parks Movement began in 1887 with an initiative of the paramount chief of the Ngāti Tūwharetoa tribe, Horonuku Te Heuheu, which made an agreement wirh the British Crown that the central North Island volcanoes would become a national park, because different tribes were disputing ownership of the peaks of Ruapehu, Ngāuruhoe and Tongariro, and there was a danger that they would be divided and sold.

28/11/2021

FRANCE


FRANCE.

Tourist promotion.
Gorges du Tarn, Lozère.
Second stamp in a set of 4, issued on 10.07.1965.
Face value: 0.75 French franc.
Design: Pierre Gandon (1899-1990).
Printing. Recess.
Print: 14,915,000 copies.
Size; 26 x 40 mm.

Catalogs
- AFA No. 1542.
- Michel No. 1517.
- Scott No. 1128.
- StampWorld No. 1510.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1686.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1438.

The Gorges du Tarn (Occitan: Gòrjas de Tarn) is a canyon formed by the Tarn river between the Causse Méjean and the Causse de Sauveterre, in southern France. The canyon, mainly located in the Lozère département, and partially in the Aveyron département, is about 53 kilometers (33 mi)-long, from the village of Quézac to Le Rozier, with a depth of 400 to 600 m (1,312 and 1,968 ft). The Tarn has its source on Mont Lozère and it is immediately at the exit of this granite mountain range that the river reaches the plateaus of the Great Causses.

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

26/11/2021

CANADA


CANADA.

Famous Canadian.
Joseph-Elzéar Bernier (1852-1934), Arctic explorer.
Stamp issued on 16.09.1977.
Face value: 12 Canadian cent of dollar.
Design: Will Davies (1924-2016).
Engraving: Robert Couture.
Printing: Recess.
Printed by British American Bank Note Co., Montreal.
Print: 12,000,000 copies.
Size: 40 x 24 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 667.
- Scott No. 738.
- StampWorld No. 667.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 892.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 640.

Joseph-Elzéar Bernier (L'Islet, Quebec, January 1, 1852 - Lévis, Quebec, December 26, 1934) was a Canadian ship captain and explorer. On July 1, 1909, he have laid a plaque on Melville Island proclaiming Canadian sovereignty over the Arctic Islands. Between 1906 and 1925 he made 12 Arctic expeditions and spent 8 winters there. The United Kingdom ceded the Arctic to Canada in 1880. The stamp shows the ship “Arctic”, with which in 1906 he made his first trip to the Arctic lands.

25/11/2021

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.