GERMANY

GERMANY / DEUTCHLAND.

National Parks and Nature Reserves.
Kellerwald-Edersee National Park.
Stamp issued on 03.01.2011.
Face value: 1,45 euro.
Design: Julia Warbanow.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 6,920,000 copies.
Size: 23 x 39 mm.

Catalogues
- AFA No. 3712.
- Michel No. 2841.
- Scott No. 2604.
- StamWorld No. 2645.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 3700.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 2667.

The Kellerwald-Edersee National Park (Nationalpark Kellerwald-Edersee) is located in the district of Waldeck-Frankenberg, in the German state of Hesse, around Lake Eder (Edersee), in the northern part of the lower Kellerwald mountain range. Its area is 57.38 km² (22.15 sq mi). It is characterized by its beech trees. During the 19th century and part of the 20th it was an important hunting area. In 1989, large nature reserves were established in the park to protect parts of the former beech forests. On February 1, 2007 it was registered as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO.

The stamp design shows the view from Waldeck Castle over the Edersee at low tide and a peninsula with hills covered in hops.

LIECHTENSTEIN

LIECHTENSTEIN.

Lanscapes.
Naafkopf and  Falknis mountains.   
Last stamp in a set of 5, issued on 23.07.1959.
Face value: 60 rappen of Swiss franc.
Design: Josef Seger (Austria, 1908-1998).
Engraving: Courvoisier S.A.
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 927,665 copies.
Size: 26 x 36 mm.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 382.
- Scott No. 342.
- StampWorld No. 389.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 381.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 347.
- Zumstein No. 331.

Naafkopf, also called Schneetälispitz, with an altitude of 2,571 m (8,430 ft) is a mountain in the Rätikon mountain range in the western central Alps. The summit, in the shape of a cross, is located exactly on the border between the Austrian state of Vorarlberg, the Swiss canton of Grisons and the southernmost part of the municipality of Schaan, in Liechtenstein.

Falknis is the westernmost peak of the Rätikon mountain range, in the western central Alps, with slopes in the Swiss canton of Grisons and in the Principality of Liechtenstein. Its altitude is 2,562 m (8,406 ft).

KENYA UGANDA & TANZANIA

KENYA, UGANDA & TANZANIA (British East Africa).

East African mountains. Mount Kenya.
Second stamp in a set of 4, issued on 04.03.1968.
Face value: 50 cents of East African shilling.
Printing: Photogravure.
Size: 44 x 28 mm.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 170.
- Scott No. 182.
- StampWorld No. 140.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 245.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 167.

Mount Kenya (Kĩrĩnyaga, in Kamba language; Ol Donyo Keri in Maasai language) is an extinct stratovolcano created approximately 3 million years after the opening of the East African Rift. It is the highest mountain in Kenya and the second-highest in Africa, after Kilimanjaro. The highest peak of the mountain is Batian, 5,199 m (17,058 ft), located about 16.5 kilometers (10 1⁄4 miles) south of the equator, around 150 km (90 mi) north-northeast of the Kenya capital city, Nairobi. Mount Kenya is the source of the name of the country. The first European to climb it was probably the Englishman Halford Mackinder in 1899. In 1949 the Mount Kenya National Park was created, to protect the region surrounding the mountain, designated a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve in 1978 and World Heritage Site in 1997.

FINLAND

FINLAND / SUOMI.

Conference of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).
Simplified map of Europe.
Stamp issued on 20.03.1992.
Face value: 16 Finnish markka.
Design: Osmo Omenamäki (b. Helsinki, 1940).
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 3,000,000 copies.
Size: 34 x 24 mm.

Catalogues
- AFA No. 1154.
- Michel No. 1166.
- Scott No. 881.
- StampWorld No. 1179.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1276.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1132.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is the world's largest security-oriented intergovernmental organization. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, promotion of human rights, freedom of the press, and fair elections. It has its origins in the 1975 Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (CSCE) held in Helsinki, Finland. The fall of the Soviet Union required a change of role for the CSCE. The Charter of Paris for a New Europe, signed on 21 November 1990, marked the beginning of this change. The six official languages of the OSCE are English, French, German, Italian, Spanish and Russian. The decisions taken at the Helsinki meeting of July 9 and 10, 1992 were the following: Creation of the High Commissioner on National Minorities, the Forum for Security Co-operation and the Economic Forum. Suspension of FR Yugoslavia from membership.

TOGO

TOGO.

Tourism.
Ayomé waterfall.
Last stamp in a set of 4, issued on 01.03.1975.
Face value: West African CFA francs.
Printing: Photogravure.
Size: 40 x 25 mm.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 1091.
- Scott No. 902.
- StampWorld No. 1154.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1065.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 835.

The Ayomé waterfall is located about 2 km (1.24 mi) north of the road between the towns of Amlamé (Emla) and Temedja, in the Plateaux Region of Togo, about 150 km (93 mi) north of the country's capital, Lomé.

THAILAND

THAILAND / ประเทศไทย.

50th anniversary of the Thai national flag, 1917-1967.
With a small simplified map of Thailand in Indochinese peninsula and flag.
First stamp in a set of 2, issued on 05.12.1967.
Face value: 50 Thai satang.
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 5,000,000 copies.
Size: 30 x 48 mm.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 511.
- Scott No. 494.
- StampWorld No. 536.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 587.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 484.

The flag of the Kingdom of Thailand (Trairanga, ธง ไตรรงค์) shows five horizontal stripes in the colors red, white, blue, white and red, with the central blue stripe being twice as wide as each of the other four. The design, made by King Vajiravudh (Rama VI of Siam), was adopted on 28 September 1917, according to a royal decree. The colors are said to stand for nation-religion-king, an unofficial motto of Thailand, red for the land and people, white for religions and blue for the monarchy, the last having been the auspicious color of Rama VI. The colors of the flag were standardized in an announcement of the Office of the Prime Minister dated 30 September 2017, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of its adoption.

FRENCH POLYNESIA

FRENCH POLYNESIA / POLYNÉSIE FRANÇAISE - PŌRĪNETIA FARĀNI.

Space Year commemoration.
Satellite view of Tahiti island. 
First stamp in a set of 3, issued on 18.03.2002.
Face value: 46 CFP francs.
Printing: Offset lithography.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 605.
- Scott No. 597.
- StampWorld No. 609.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 637.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 405.

French Polynesia is made up of 118 islands and atolls, of which 67 are inhabited. Tahiti (formerly known as Otaheite) is the most famous and most populated of the islands. Its territory is mountainous, of volcanic origin, surrounded by a coral reef and consists mainly of two pieces of land connected by the Isthmus of Taravao: Tahiti Nui (Greater Tahiti) and Tahiti Iti (Little Tahiti). The total area of ​​the island is 1,044 km² (403 sq mi) and its highest point is Mount Orohena, an extint volcano of 2,241 m (7,352 ft).
The first European to arrive in Tahiti was probably the Spanish explorer Juan Fernández on his 1576-1577 expedition; later, in the 18th century, the British and Spanish fought over the island, which was a Polynesian monarchy. In the mid-nineteenth century, it was the French who wanted to impose their law, which led to the Franco-Tahitian War (1844-1847), won by France, and finally, on June 29, 1880, King Pōmare V abdicated and Tahiti and its dependencies were ceded to France.

UNITED KINGDOM

UNITED KINGDOM.

James Clark Ross (1800-1862), polar explorer.
First stamp in a set of 4, issued on 16.02.1972.
Facial value: 3 pence.
Printing: Phogravure and embossing.
Printed by Harrison and Sons, London.
Print: 53,630,000 copies.
Size: 30 x 41 mm.

Catalogues
- AFA No. 620.
- Michel No. 590.
- Scott No. 664.
- StampWorld No. 571.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 897.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 653.

Sir James Clark Ross (London, 15 April 1800 - Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire, 3 April 1862) was a British Royal Navy officer and polar explorer known for his explorations of the Arctic, participating in two expeditions led by his uncle John Ross, and four led by William Parry, and, in particular, for his own Antarctic expedition from 1839 to 1843. In 1841 he discovered the Ross Sea, the land of Victoria and the volcanoes Mount Erebus and Mount Terror. The formerly known as the Victoria Barrier was renamed the Ross Barrier in his honor. In 1842 he explored the eastern side of James Ross Island and discovered and named the Snow Hill and Seymour Island. In 1847 he published his notes on the expedition under the title A Voyage of Discovery and Research to Southern and Antarctic Regions.

NEW ZEALAND

NEW ZEALAND / AOTEAROA.

Lake Matheson (Te Ara Kairaumati) and Mount Cook (Aoraki), in South Island.
Third stamp in a set of 6, isued on 01.05.1996.
Face value: 40 cents of New New Zeland dollar.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Size: 25 x 30 mm.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 1519IBA.
- Scott No. 1356.
- StampWorld No. 1562.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1988.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1463.

Lake Matheson (in Māori, Te Ara Kairaumati) is a small glacial lake in South Westland of New Zealand. It is famous for its reflected views of Mount Cook and Mount Tasman. The Lake was formed in between two moraine terraces left by the rapid retreat of Fox Glacier (Te Moeka o Tuawe) approximately 14,000 years ago, at the end of the last glacial period. It has 1.5 km (0.93 mi) shoreline and an average depth of 12 m (39 ft). Its surface is 30 ha (74 acres). Some of the creeks that feed it carry organic matter and tannins from the forest, which produce the brownish effect of the waters, which facilitates reflections. The lake was named in honor of Murdoch Matheson, a rancher from the area in the 1870s. In the stamp is Mount Cook (Aoraki), New Zealand's highest mountain at 3,724 m (12,218 ft), in the Southern Alps mountain range.

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

SWITZERLAND

SWITZERLAND / SCHWEITZ - SUISSE - SVIZZERA - SVIZRA.

Spannort Mountain and Glacier.
Stamp issued on 21.09.1972.
Face value: 0,20 Swiss franc.
Design: Edi Hauri (1911-1988).
Engraving: Corvoisier S.A.
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 23,284,000 copies.
Size: 26 x 36 mm.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 976.
- Scott No. 552.
- StampWorld No. 970.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 836.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 906.
- Zumstein No. 516.

Spannort is a very irregularly shaped mountain in the Uri Canton Alps, made up of two peaks: the Gross Spannort, 3198 m (10,492 ft), and the Chli Spannort, 3,140 m (10,300 ft). The Gross Spannort is almost entirely surrounded by glaciers, the largest being Glatt Finn. The Gross Spannort was first climbed in 1867 by a group of British mountaineers. On the night of December 28, 1961, a landslide occurred at Chli Spannort, from which more than a million m³ of rock fell.

LIBYA

LIBYA / ليبيا.

1st anniversary of Libya's admission to the United Nations (UN).
Simplified and illustrated map of Libya.
Second stamp in a set of 2, issued on 14.12.1956.
Face value: 35 milliemes of Libyan pound.
Printing: Recess.

Catalogue
- Michel No. 76.
- Scott No. 174.
- StampWorld No. 76.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 230.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 165.

Libya is made up of three historical regions: Tripolitania, Cyrenaica and Fezzan, and its area is almost 1.8 million km² (700,000 sq mi). From 1835 the country was subject to the Ottoman Empire until the Italian-Turkish War (1911-1912), when it was occupied by the Kingdom of Italy, which established two colonies, the Italian Tripolitania and the Italian Cyrenaica. In 1934 it was unified into the Italian colony of Libya, which remained until February 10, 1947, when it became independent from Italy and came under British and French administration. It was liberated on December 24, 1951, the date of the which declared its independence as a sovereign state and established a monarchy under Idris I. The country was admitted to the United Nations on December 14, 1955.

ETHIOPIA

ETHIOPIA / ኢትዮጵያ.

Mount Zuqualla and portrait of Emperor Haile Selassie I.
Airmail stamp issued on 11.04.1952.
Face value: 25 cents of Ethiopian birr.
Printing: Recess.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 310.
- Scott No. C25
- StampWorld No. 376.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 479a.
- Yvert et Tellier No. PA 24A.

Mount Zuqualla (ዝቋላ, also spelled Zoquala, Zuquala or Chuqqaala) is an extinct volcano located in the Great Rift Valley, in the Oromia region of Ethiopia. With a height of 2,989 m (9,806 ft), it is known for Lake Dembel, in its crater. Both the mountain and the lake are considered sacred by the Ethiopian Orthodox Church and by the pagan people of the Oromo.

POLAND

POLAND / POLSKA.

25th anniversary of the Antarctic Treaty, 1961-1986.
Antarctica map and potrait of Antoni B. Dobrowolski.
First stamp in a set of 2, issued on 23.06.1986.
Face value: 5 złotych.
Design: Stefan Małecki (1924-2012).
Printing: Offset lithography.
Printed by PWPW (Polska Wytwórnia Papierów Wartościowych), Warszawa.
Print: 5,076,000 copies.
Size: 40,5 x 27 mm.

Catalogues
- AFA No. 2922.
- Fischer No. 2885.
- Michel No. 3033.
- Scott No. 2733.
- StampWorld No. 3036.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 3047.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 2843.

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.

Antoni Bolesław Dobrowolski (Dworszowice Kościelne, June 6, 1872 - Warsaw, April 27, 1954) was a Polish geophysicist, meteorologist and explorer. While still a student of biology, physics and chemistry at the University of Liege (Belgium), he was part of the Belgian Antarctic Expedition (1897-1899) as an assistant meteorologist. During World War I, he lived in Sweden and studied snow and ice formation there. After the war he returned to Poland and finished his treatise on ice and snow crystallography, Historia naturalna lodu (‘Natural History of Ice’), published in 1923. He was an active promoter of polar research in Poland. During the second International Polar Year (1932-1933), he provided assistance to the Polish expedition that wintered on Bear Island. He headed the organizing committee for the 1934 Polish expedition to Spitsbergen and also committed to the 1938 Polish expedition to the Oscar II Land. He gave his name to a research base in Antarctica, Dobrowolski Island, Dobrowolski Peak and Dobrowolski Glacier (the latter two on King George Island). 

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

ROMANIA

ROMANIA / ROMÂNIA.

Tourist promotion.
Babele rock formations in the Bucegi Mountains, Central Romania.
Second stamp in a set of 6, issued on 16.04.1971.
Face value: 40 Romanian bani.
Design: Vlasto Stoianov.
Print: 4,000,000 copies.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 2922.
- Scott No. 2236.
- StampWorld No. 2925.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 3800.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 2597.

Babele (which means "The old women") is the name of an area on the Bucegi Mountains plateau in Romania, within the South Carpathians. The name comes from some mushroom-shaped rock formations, the result of erosion and variable hardness of the rock layers. Some researchers estimate that the shaping agents were water and wind supported by frost and thaw. The alternation of rocks, sandstones and limestones on the plateau is also taken into account. However, human intervention in finishing in more or less regular ways cannot be denied. So far, no scientific evidence has been able to fully explain this phenomenon, and therefore the legends about these rocks are still developing.

BELGIUM

BELGIUM / BELGIË - BELGIQUE.

Vielsalm. Salm river valley.
Second stamp in a set of 2, issued on 06.09.1969.
Face value: 2 Belgian francs.
Printing: Photogravure and recess.
Size: 28 x 24 mm.

Catalogues
- AFA No. 1578.
- COB No. 1504.
- Michel No. 1561.
- Scott No. 654.
- StampWorld No. 1569.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 2124.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 1504.

Vielsalm (Viye Såm in walloon) is a French-speaking municipality in the Belgian province of Luxembourg, in the Walloon region. Its area is 139.76 km² (5,396 sq mi) and in January 2019 its population was 7,814 inhabitants. It is located in the valley of the river Salm, in the Belgian part of the Ardennes massif: in the municipal area is one of the highest points of the massif and of Belgium, the Baraque de Fraiture, 652 m (2,139 ft) high, where there are three ski slopes.

EL SALVADOR

EL SALVADOR.

Commemoration of the centenary of Chalatenango department, February 14, 1855-1955.
Map of Chalatenango department and a girl.
Airmail. Sixth stamp in a set of 9, issued on 14.09.1956.
Face value: 20 cents of Salvadoran colón.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Printed by Waterlow & Sons Limited, London.
Size: 43 x 28 mm.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 781.
- Scott No. C175.
- StampWorld No. 830.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1106.
- Yvert et Tellier No. PA 157.

The department of Chalatenango (Shalatenan in the Nahuat-Pipil language) is located in the north of the Republic of El Salvador and on the border with Honduras. Its area is 2017 km² (779 sq mi) and in 2018 its population was about 275,000 inhabitants. It was legally founded on February 14, 1855. In pre-Columbian times it was populated by Lenca tribes, who in the 15th century were subdued by Pipiles from Cuzcatlán. Apparently, upon the arrival of the Spaniards, three ethnic groups lived there: Pipiles, Chortis and Lencas.

BERMUDA

BERMUDA.

Bermuda - Tortola Cable & Wireless Telephone Service.
Simplified maps of Bermuda and the British Virgin Islands.
Second stamp in a set of 4, issued on 14.09.1967.
Face value: 1 shilling of Bermudian pound.
Printing: Photogravure.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 204.
- Scott No. 215.
- StampWorld No. 207.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 209.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 203.

PERU

PERU / PERÚ.

Presence of Peru in the Antarctica.
Simplified map of the Antarctica and Humboldt penguins.
Stamp issued on 20.12.1985.
Face value: 1500 Peruvian soles.
Printing: Offset lithograpgy.
Printed by Állami Nyomda, Budapest.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 1510.
- Scott No. 853.
- StampWorld No. 1295.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1622.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 814.

The first Peruvian expedition in search of Antarctica, during the Spanish viceroyalty, was commanded by Álvaro de Mendaña, who left the port of Callao on November 20, 1567. However, it was the Portuguese Pedro Fernandes de Queirós who in 1606 took possession of the lands he found on the Antarctic continent. In more recent times, starting in 1961, at the initiative of the Peruvian Navy, several Peruvian sailors integrated expeditions to Antarctica. On April 10, 1981, Peru acceded to the Antarctic Treaty and made a reservation of its territorial rights, and on January 14, 1998 it also acceded to the Protocol to the Antarctic Treaty on Environmental Protection. Since 1988, Peru has carried out annual scientific expeditions to Antarctica and maintains the Machu Picchu scientific research base, installed on King George Island, in the Admiralty Bay.

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Thanks to Edward Silva for his contribution. 

PAKISTAN

PAKISTAN / پاكِستان.

Map of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).
Second stamp in a set of 3, issued on 15.08.1956.
Face value: 2 Pakistani annas.
Printing: Recess.
Print: 500,000 copies.
Size: 32 x 41 mm.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 85.
- Scott No. 85.
- StampWorld No. 93.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 85.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 85.

The borders of this territory were established in 1947, and the region became the eastern part of the newly formed Pakistan. However, it was separated from the western part by 1600 km (994 mi) of Indian territory. In 1971, political and linguistic discrimination, and economic neglect, led to a series of conflicts with Pakistan, leading to the War of Liberation following a declaration proclaiming the autonomous nation status of Bangladesh. The conflict ended on December 16 of the same year, the date on which the independence of the new Bengali state was recognized. The total area of the territory is 148,460 km² (57,320 sq mi).

JAPAN

JAPAN / 日本.

Ishizuchi Quasi-National Park (石鎚国定公園) and Mount Ishizuchi (石鎚山),
in Prefectures of Ehime and Kōchi (Shikoku island).   

Stamp issued on 11.01.1963.
Face value: 10 Japanese yen.
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 10,000,000 copies.  

Catalogues
- Michel No. 813. 
- Scott No. 774. 
- StampWorld No. 
- Stanley Gibbons No. 916.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 729.

The Ishizuchi Kokutei Kōen (石 鎚 国 定 公園) is a Quasi-National Park founded on November 1, 1955 and has an area of 106.83 km² (41.25 sq mi). The park area is classified as a Protected Landscape and a Protected Marine Area. Inside the park is Mount Ishizuchi (石 鎚 山), 1982 m (6,502 ft) high. The Kamega forest also appears in the foreground on the stamp.