Kazakhstan: Olympic Champions from Kazakhstan

I will end the year of 2017 with a new country on my Blog. Some weeks ago I received two nice Covers from Kazakhstan. Kazakhstan is the world's largest landlocked country, and the ninth largest in the world. Its capital is Astana. Kazakhstan was the last of the Soviet republics to declare independence during the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991. The stamps on the Covers are dedicated to Olympic Champions from Kazakhstan.

The stamps on the first cover depicting Olga Shishigina (Gold Medalist at the 2000 Summer Olympics in 100m Hurdles) and Ermahan Ibraimov (Gold Medalist at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Boxing). The stamps on the second cover depicting Zhaqsylyq Üshkempirov (Gold Medalist at the 1980 Moscow Summer Olympics in Greco-Roman wrestling), Vitaliy Savin (Gold Medalist at the 1988 Seoul Summer Olympics in 4x100 m Relay) and Vassiliy Jirov (Gold Medalist at the 1996 Atlanta Summer Olympics in Boxing)

Stamps:

Olympic Champions (from a set four) - Issued: 28-12-2007

Stamps:
Olympics Champions (from a set of four) - Issued: 22-09-2005


Many thanks to Wonsik Kang for these nice Covers!

-Wishing everyone a happy new year 2018!-

Canada-India: Diwali (Festival of Lights)

Canada Post and India Post issued joint stamps to commemorate Diwali as well as cultural and historic bilateral ties. Diwali or Deepavali is the Hindu festival of lights celebrated every year in autumn in the northern hemisphere (spring in southern hemisphere). Its the first ever joint Issue between these two countries. The stamps portray lamps, lights and sparkles in red and yellow shades. I'm very happy to receive covers from both countries showing this nice stamps.

Canada Post:

Stamps:
Diwali m/s and single stamps (full set) - Issued: 21-09-2017

India Post:

Stamp:
Diwali m/s - Issued: 21-09-2017


Many thanks to Tristan and Boben for your nice Covers!

Norway: UCI Road World Championships 2017

The 2017 UCI Road World Championships were held in 2017 in Bergen, Norway. It was the 90th UCI Road World Championships and the second to be held in Norway, after the 1993 world championships in Oslo. Chantal Blaak of the Netherlands won the women's road race and Peter Sagan of Slovakia won the men's road race. Sagan became the first man to win three successive world road race championships.

Stamps:
Cycling - UCI Road World Championships 2017 (full Set) - Issued: 16-06-2017

China: 2017 National Games of the People's Republic of China

The 13th National Games of China were held in Tianjin and Luoyang, Henan in August-September 2017. It is the premier sports event in China at national level. Like the Olympic Games, it is usually held once every four years. A total of 341 events in 31 sports were held at the games. On this very nice Cover you can see a minisheet and two stamps showing the mascot of this games called "JinWa".

Stamps:
Sports - The 13th National Games 2017 (m/s) - Issued: 27-08-2017


Many thanks to Jarod Xia for this nice Cover!

Åland: Sauna Traditions (Joint Issue with Finland)

On 24 May 2017, Åland Post and Posti Finland jointly issued stamps on the theme Sauna traditions. The Finnish sauna is a substantial part of Finnish culture. There are five million inhabitants and over three million saunas in Finland - an average of one per household. For Finnish people the sauna is a place to relax with friends and family, and a place for physical and mental relaxation as well.

In summer 2016, both Postal Administrations collected Sauna Photos from their costumers. A jury selected the most beautiful Photos. The Finnish Post then issued a booklet including the four most beautiful Photos from Finland and an additional winning Photo from Åland. On this minisheet from Åland, you can see the both winning Photos.

Stamp:
Sauna Traditions m/s (Joint Issue with Finland) - Issued: 24-05-2017


UPDATE 06-03-2018:

I recently received another cover with this nice Stamp. Many thanks to Kimmo!

Stamp:
Sauna Traditions m/s (Joint Issue with Finland) - Issued: 24-05-2017

India: Traditional Dancing (Joint Issue with Portugal)

On this nice Cover from India you can see a nice mini-sheet as India-Portugal Joint Issue featuring "Dandiya Dance" of India and "Pauliteiros Dance" of Portugal. The Dandiya Dance, also known as Raas or Dandiya Raas, is the traditional folk dance form of Gujarat & Rajasthan India. The Dandiya Raas dance originated as devotional Garba dances, which were performed in Goddess Durga’s honor.
The Pauliteiros are those who practise folk dance which is popular in Terra de Miranda (Terras de Miranda) a region in the northeastern Portugal, lying on the border of Spain. The dance is carried out by a group of men including eight dancers and three musicians, wearing traditional clothes. Characteristic for the dance is the complementation of the rhythmic section by the striking of two sticks by each dancer.

Stamp:
Minisheet - Traditional Dancing (Joint Issue with Portugal) - Issued: 07-01-2017


Many thanks to Kamran for this nice Cover!

Latvia: Academic Center for Natural Sciences of the University of Latvia

The stamp on this nice Cover is from the series "Latvijas arhitektūra" issued by Latvia Post (Print-run: 150.000). It shows the newly built Academic Center for Natural Sciences of the University of Latvia. The University of Latvia (LU) (Latvian: Latvijas Universitāte) is a state-run university located in Riga, Latvia. It was established in 1919. On September 7, 2015 the newly built Academic Center for Natural Sciences of the University of Latvia has been opened in Torņakalns in the presence of the highest state officials. The Academic Center will house around 1500 students from 5 faculties – the faculties of Biology, Geography and Earth Science, Chemistry, Medicine as well as the Department of Optometry and Vision Science department of the Faculty of Physics and Mathematics.

Stamp:
Architecture - University of Latvia Academic Center of Natural Sciences 2017 - Issued: 28-09-2017


Many thanks again to Vera for this nice Cover!

Germany: Research Vessel Polarstern on the Expedition PS107-ARK-XXXI/2

The Polarstern expedition PS107 to the Arctic (Tromsø – Tromsø) started on 23 July 2017 and led particularly to study areas in the central and eastern Fram Strait. With this expedition it contributed to various large national and international research and infrastructure projects (e.g. INTAROS, FRAM, SIOS, OceanSITES) as well as to the research programme PACES-II (Polar Regions and Coasts in the changing Earth System) of the Alfred-Wegener- Institut Helmholtz-Zentrum für Polar- und Meeresforschung (AWI). The cruise ended on 19 August 2017 in Tromsø, Norway.

Note the signature on the cover, I'm not sure from who it is, but I suspect its from the Chief Scientist of this Expedition Ingo Schewe.

Stamp:
EUROPA "Castles" - Issued: 11-05-2017

Greenland: Paamiut

Paamiut, formerly known as Frederikshåb, is a town in southwestern Greenland in the Sermersooq municipality. It is located on the coast of Labrador Sea in the southern end of a small estuary called Kuannersooq ("Inlet"). With 1,515 inhabitants as of 2013, it is the eighth-largest town in Greenland.

I choosed this special round stamp, which is an joint Issue with New Zealand Post, to frank this matching postcard showing a Polar Bear. Because of expected habitat loss caused by climate change, the polar bear is now classified as a vulnerable species,

Stamp:
From Pole-to-Pole (Joint Issue with New Zealand) - Issued: 20-10-2014