Volcanoes of Costa Rica | Costa Rica

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Costa Rica is home a great number of volcanoes: there are six active volcanoes and another 61 dormant or extinct ones. Three of the most noticible volcanoes are Arenal, Poás and Irazú.

For the past fifty years, Arenal was the country’s most active volcano, actually one of the ten most active volcanoes in the world. But it entered into a resting phase in 2010. Poás and Irazú are caldera volcanoes, whose craters are filled with water and rising steam.

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Surtsey Island | Iceland

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Surtsey, the southernmost of the Vestmannaeyjar Islands, was formed during a volcanic eruption lasting from November 1963 to June 1967. Surtsey, meaning 'Surtur's island', is named after Surtr, the fire god in Icelandic mythology.

The island is UNESCO World Heritage site since 2008.

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Pjofafoss Waterfall, part of a set of two tourist stamps, issued 2016.  

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Volcanic eruption at Fimmvörðuháls | Island

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Fimmvörðuháls is the area between the glaciers Eyjafjallajökull and Mýrdalsjökull in southern Iceland. One of the most popular hiking trails in Iceland.

The Fimmvörðuháls eruption in 2010 was small and spectacular and attracted visitors from around the world It lasted for 23 days.

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Tongariro National Park | New Zealand

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Tongariro National Park in New Zealand has active and extinct volcanoes, a diverse range of ecosystems and some spectacular landscapes.

Mt Ruapehu is one of New Zealand's most active volcanoes, and the highest mountain on the north island. It last erupted in 2007. The majestic slopes of Mt Ruapehu accommodate New Zealand’s largest and most developed ski areas. Skiing on an active volcano! Not for the faint of heart I guess.

Stamps

(left) Round Kiwi stamp, issued 2011.The kiwi is a national symbol of New Zealand.

(right) Maori Crafts, Taniko Embroidery. Part of a set of 6 stamps, issued in 1996. Aotearoa is the Maori name for New Zealand.

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The island of Stromboli | Italy

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Stromboli is a very small Italian volcanic island in the Tyrrhenian Sea just north of Sicily. It is one of the Aeolian Islands.

The island is actually just the tip of a vast underwater volcano that rises from the seabed 1,476m below. 

There are two small villages on the island, both together they only have about 350 inhabitants. 

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Ometepe Island | Nicaragua

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Ometepe is an island located in the middle of Lake Nicaragua, the second largest lake in Latin America.

Its name means ‘two mountains’ in the native language. The island is home to two volcanoes: Maderas and Concepción. The latter is an active stratovolcano that erupted at least 25 times since 1883. 

Stamps

These six stamps with rainforest animals are part of a sheet of 20 stamp, issued 1991.

Thank you very much!

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Santiaguito Volcano | Guatemala

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Santiaguito has now been active for nearly a century. The volcano is part of a twin volcano system located near Quezaltenango, Guatemala’s second largest city.

The Santiaguito lava dome was created in the aftermath of the explosion of the Santa Maria Volcano in 1902. Since then it has been erupting with an explosion of hot ash and rocks every few hours.

Stamps

(left) Part of a set of four stamps about legends and myths: the legend of Manualita. She was sentenced to death for witchcraft. But she escaped prison by a ship she drew on the prison walls with a piece of coal.

The stamp on the right is a 2013 Christmas stamp. 

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A postcard from the West Indies: Montserrat

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Montserrat is a British Overseas Territory located in the Caribbean. Soufrière Hills Volcano began to erupt in 1995, for the first time since the 17th century.

The lava flows and ash falls forced two-thirds of the island's population to flee. Today the island has about 4,500 inhabitants.

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Part of a set of 12 butterfly stamps, issued 2013. 

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White Island | New Zealand

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White Island is New Zealand’s only active marine volcano. It was named White Island by Captain Cook, the first European to sight the island in 1769. White Island has been in a near continuous stage of smoking since then.

Stamps

(right) The Antipodean albatross is a large albatross that breeds almost exclusively on the Auckland and Antipodes Islands.

The bird silhouette disappears if you warm up the stamp with your finger! 

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The Unspoiled Queen of the Caribbean: Saba

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Saba is a Caribbean island and the smallest special municipality of The Netherlands. The island consists largely of the 887 metres high Mount Scenery volcano. With only 13km² and 2,000 inhabitants, Saba is one of the smallest islands in the Caribbean.    

 

Thank you so much Olga!

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Flamingo Express Dutch Caribbean is the mail service company for the BES-islands (Bonaire, Eustatius and Saba).

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Jeju Island

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Jejudo is a volcanic island, 130 km from the southern coast of Korea. Located on the island is Sanbangsan Mountain, the result of violent volcanic activity some 700,000 to 800,000 years ago and is in fact a huge body of lava.  

The island is a popular vacation spot for Koreans and many Japanese. It remains one of the top honeymoon destinations for Korean newlyweds. 

Stamps

The birdstamp depicts  the Black-crowned Night-Heron. Issued in 2000 as part of a set of definitive stamps. 

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Coatepeque Caldera, El Salvador

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Santa Ana, El Salvador's highest volcano, is a massive, 2381-m-high stratovolcano that rises immediately west of Coatepeque caldera.

A volcano caldera is a depression in the ground created by the collapse of land after a volcanic eruption. In some cases, the caldera is created slowly, when the ground sinks down after a magma chamber is emptied. In other situations, the magma explodes violently, and the caldera is the deep pit in the ground that remains after the volcano blows its top off.

Stamps

(left) The stamp is from a set of 2 stamps issued in 2008 under the theme "82 years of radio communication".

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Antigua Guatemala

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The city of Antigua in Guatamala is known as the best-preserved Spanish colonial city in Central America. It was founded in the early 16th century, 1,500 m above sea-level, in an earthquake-prone region.

 

Volcán de Agua or the Water Volcano is a dormant volcano since the mid-16th century. Its name traces back to 1541, when water and mudslides from the volcano wiped out Guatemala's then-capital city.

Thx Pat!

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Part of a set of four stamps about legends and myths: La Llorona. This legend is about a woman named María who drowned herself and her children.  

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Mt Kilimanjaro, Tanzania (zoom level 3)

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In 2007 85 percent of the ice that covered the mountain in 1912 had been lost, and 26 percent of the ice there in 2000 is now gone.

The remaining ice fields atop of Mt Kilimanjaro could be gone within two decades and perhaps even sooner, based on the latest survey of the ice fields remaining on the mountain.

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The capital of Mexico

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Mexico City, the capital of Mexico, is one of the largest metropolitan areas in the world with over 20 million inhabitants (including Mexico City Metropolitan Area).

 

In the background you see Popocatépetl volcano (local name: Popo), a still active volcano. Popo is just too predictable to be considered a properly dangerous volcano. It vents off all its gas rather than storing it up, waiting to explode.

Stamps

Two stamps part of a large set of stamps picturing “Mexico Creacion Popular” (folk art). 

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Ol Doinyo Lengai Volcano, Tanzania

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Oldoinyo Lengai means "Mountain of God" in Massai language. It is a steep around 2900 m high volcano located in the East-African rift valley in northern Tanzania, near the Serengeti National park. It is the only active volcano in the world that erupts natrocarbonatite lava.

The volcano had big explosive eruptions with fatal effects for the Masaii tribe living close to the volcano. Today many Masaii families live around the volcano and most of the younger generation have certainly forgotten that the holy mountain of the Masaii tribe can cause death and distruction. 

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(left) 350th death anniversary of Peter Paul Rubens (1577 - 1640)

(right) Princess Diana

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A postcard from the Canary Islands: Tenerife

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The Canary Islands is a Spanish archipelago located just off the northwest coast of mainland Africa, 100 km west of the border between Morocco and the Western Sahara.

Belonging to the Canary Islands, Tenerife is a unique volcanic island which is one of the largest of its kind in the world.

Home to the dormant Mount El Teide volcano, this ancient island gives visitors a chance to explore the area's lunar like landscapes and experience the stunning natural beauty that surrounds it.

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Atento a la conducción!

The National Traffic Department runs regular campaigns to create awareness among drivers.

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Karymsky Volcano, Kamchatka

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The Kamchatka Peninsula  is a 1,250-kilometre peninsula in the Russian Far East. The Kamchatka peninsula contains the Volcanoes of Kamchatka, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

Karymsky volcano is a relatively short (1,486 m) and young (6,100years old) volcano, the most active one in Kamchatka. There have been 23 eruptions in this century only, the latest one started in 1996 and was going on for two years gradually fading.

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