Saint Eustatius

Saint Eustatius is part of the Carribean Netherlands and is known to the locals as Statia. It's a special municipality of the Netherlands and the capital city is Oranjestad. About 3.500 people are living on this island, which is located next to St. Kitts and Saba. The official language is Dutch, but many people also speak English. The name of the island is derived from a legendary christian martyr. A popular tourist attraction on the island is the Quill crater. In the 18th century the island was better known as the "Golden Rock" because of it's important position in trading and it's great wealth. As some of you may know, stamps are sometimes rare in the Carribean - so on this card unfortunately there is no stamp. If you go to Sandy Point in St. Kitts, you have an awesome view on St. Eustatius!

Nicaragua Card

Nicaragua is the largest state in Central America and about 6 million people are living there. The capital city Managua is the third largest city in Central America. The official language is mainly Spanish. The currency of Nicaragua is the Córdoba. Nicaragua is one of the poorest countries in America - 48% of the population of the country live below the poverty line. Nicaragua is primarily an agricultural country. Mining is becoming a major industry in Nicaragua. During the war years in the 1980s much of the countrys infrastructure was damaged. I was waiting a long time to get my last country from Central America!

Faroe Islands Card

Here you could see another postcard from the beautiful Faroe Islands. The islands are located between the British Isles, Norway and Island. The islands are of volanic origin and are about 60 million years old. 17 out of 18 islands are inhabited. On the postcard there is the island of Koltur; it is now uninhabited, but was inhabited until a few years by two people! About 50.000 people are living on the Faroe islands and the capital city is Torshavn. The currency is the Faroese krona. The most important economic factors are fisheries and tourism. A controversial fact is that the Faroe Islands are operating whale hunt every summer. The weather is normally wet and volatible, but there is no day which is completey rainny. I think it's a very beautiful island, which i would love to visit someday!

Norfolk Island Card

Norfolk Island is an island in the Pacific Ocean and belongs to Australia. The capital city is Kingston and the official langauge is English. There are about 2.300 inhabitants living there and the currency is the Australian Dollar. One third of the population of Norfolk Island are descendants of the Bounty mutineers. The most important business factor for the island is the tourism and aggriculture. On the island there are natural reserves, where you can see the wonderful fauna, like the bird the stamp above. The evergreen Norfolk island pine is a part of the national flag and is also a key export industry. In 2002 there happend the first murder since 1893, so it's normally a very peaceful and calm island. There are no railways on the Norfolk island.

Ivory Coast Card

Today on this sunny Monday afternoon i would like to show you my first postcard from Ivory Coast, which i received already some time ago. On the postcard you could see a boy waiting for his celebration, wearing a sea shell dress. Ivory Coast is a state in West Africa and is independent from France since 1960. As you could see on the stamps the official language is nevertheless still French. The capital city is Yamoussoukro, the seat of government is in Abidjan (from where the postcard was sent and also former capital city). About 20 million people are living in this country and the currency is the CFA-Franc BCEAO. The country's name descend from the hunt of the domestic elephants and their tusks. The fauna is rich in species, unfortunately, elephants are, due to poaching, nowadays only common in wildlife parks. The country has therefore eight national parks. Relating to reports from human rights organizsation about 12.000 children are deployed on cocoa plantations as slaves. Ivory Coast is the world's largest exporter of cocoa.

Cambodia Card

Here is my first postcard from Cambodia. It shows the most popular tourist spot: Angor Wat. It is the biggest and well known temple complex in the region Angkor. Furthermore it is an outstanding national symbol and is also present in the national flag of Cambodia. Cambodia is a state in Southeast Asia. The country is situated between Thailand, Laos and Vietnam. The capital city is Phnom Penh. Through the country flows the river Mekong, which counts to the ten largest rivers in the world. The official language is Khmer and the currency is the Riel. Cambodia became indepentend from France in 1953. About 14.5 million people are living in this country. Unfortunately Cambodia is due to long lasting civil war one of the poorest countries in the world.

Saint Barth

Saint Barthélemy is an island in the lesser antilles and is a french overseas terriorty (therefore there are french stamps on the postcard). The capital city is Gustavia, which you can see on the postcard, and the official language is French. About 9.000 people are living on this lovely island and the currency is the Euro. The island was a former commune of Guadeloupe till' 2003 the people decided to splinter from Guadeloupe. The island is a popular tourist destination, especially throughout the winter months. About 200.000 people are coming to visit St Barths every year.  Thank you Ophelie for sending this lovely postcard.