COLOMBIA

COLOMBIA.

Docks in Barranquilla Port.
First stamp in a set of 8, issued on 05.03.1956.
Face value: 5 Colombian centavos.
Printed by De La Rue & Co. Ltd., Basingstoke (England).
Printing: Recess.
Print: 3,000,000 copies.
Size: 35 x 30 mm.

Catalogs
- Leo Temprano No. 835.
- Michel No. 764.
- Scott No. 644.
- StampWorld No. 746.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 869.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 509.

Barranquilla is the capital of Atlántico Department. It is located on the western bank of the Magdalena River, 7.5 km (4.7 mi) from its mouth in the Caribbean Sea. In 1993 it was constitutionally organized in a special, industrial and port district. It is the main economic center of the Caribbean region of Colombia. Its population, in 2018, was 1,274,250 people. In 1849, Sabanilla Bay, in the Caribbean Sea, was converted into a commercial port and a customs office was installed in the current Castillo de Salgar. In 1893 the Puerto Colombia pier was built, which was at the time one of the longest in the world. The current port area of Barranquilla, on the banks of the Magdalena River, has a length of about 22 km (14 mi); Construction began in 1925 and it was officially inaugurated in December 1936. The docks that can be seen in the stamp were built in 1939, the year in which the activity of Puerto Colombia was abandoned.

COLOMBIA

COLOMBIA.

Tourism.
Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.
Airmail. Second stamp in a set of 3, issued on 01.12.1993.
460 Colombian pesos.
Design: Dieter Bortfeldt (1940-2014).
Printed by Carvajal, S.A., Cali.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 600,000 copies.
Size: 40 x 50 mm.

Catalogs
- Leo Temprano No. 1940.
- Michel No. 1927.
- Scott No. 1086b.
- StampWorld No. 1909.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1994.
- Yvert et Tellier No. PA879.

The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta (English: Snow-Covered Mountain Range of Saint Martha) is an isolated mountain range that extends between the departments of Magdalena, Cesar and La Guajira in northern Colombia, separate from the Andes range. Its summits, of the same height (5,730 m or 18,800 ft) are Pico Cristóbal Colón and Pico Simón Bolívar. It is integrated into the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta National Natural Park (Spanish: Parque Nacional Natural Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta), established in 1964. The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta is home to the remnants of the Native American Tairona Culture; Arhuacos, Koguis, Wiwas and Kankuamos, who live in Resguardos indígenas (indigenous reserves) located in the mid-highlands.

COLOMBIA

COLOMBIA.

Tourist sites.
Tequendama Waterfall (Salto del Tequendama).
Airmail. Fifth stamp in a set of 11, issued on 03.11.1945.
Size: 30 cents of Colombian peso.
Printed by Lito, Colombia.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Print: 1,500,000 copies.
Size: 25.5 x 30.5 mm.

Catalogs
- Leo Temprano No. 566.
- Michel No. 470.
- Scott No. C236.
- StampWorld No. 460.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 626.
- Yvert et Tellier No. PA145.

The Tequendama Falls (Spanish: Salto del Tequendama) is a 132 m (433 ft) high waterfall of the Bogotá River, at a height of 2,385 m (7,825 ft) above sea level, located 32 km (20 mi) southwest of Bogotá in the municipality of Soacha (department of Cundinamarca). The river emerges through a rocky gorge that narrows to about 18 m (59 ft) at the edge of the fall. During the month of December the falls dry up completely.

COLOMBIA

COLOMBIA.

Colombian postage stamps centenary,
Map of Colombia with postal routes and old stamp.
Special delivery mail. Last stamp in a set on 8, issued on 01.12.1959.
Facial value: 10 cents of Colombian peso.
Design: Imre Mosdóssy (1904-1995).
Printed by Staadtsdruckerei, Wien.
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 5,000,000 copies.
Size: 25 x 40 mm.

Catalogs
- Leo Temprano No. 956.
- Michel No. 891.
- Scott No. C354.
- StampWorld No. 873.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 996.
- Yvert et Tellier No. PA 344.

The first Colombian postage stamp was issued on September 1, 1859. It had as its central image and in green the Coat of Arms of the Granadine Confederation (Confederación Granadina). It was the first value of a set of three. On this stamp is represented the second value of the set, in its violet variety.

The map shows the existing postal routes in the country in 1859.

COLOMBIA

COLOMBIA.

Meeting of Communications Ministers of the Andean Group.
Map of South America with the Andean Pact Group.
Airmail stamp issued on 11.05.1974.
Face value: 2 Colombian pesos.
Design: T. Nel Molina.
Printed by De la Rue de Colombia.
Printing: Offset litography.
Print: 2,500,000 copies.
Size: 30 x 50 mm.

Catalogs
- Leo Temprano No. 1288.
- Michel No. 1263.
- Scott No. C194.
- StampWorld No. 1245.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1351.
- Yvert et Tellier No. PA 572.

The Andean Group or Andean Community is the result of the Andean Pact, which arose from the Cartagena de Indias (Colombia) agreement (Acuerdo de Cartagena) signed on May 26, 1969 in order to achieve greater integration of the Andean regions and greater economic and social cooperation.

COLOMBIA

COLOMBIA.

50th anniversary of the Postal Union of the Americas and Spain.
Simplified map of the American continent.
Airmail. First stamp in a set of 2, issued on 18.10.1962.
Face value: 50 cents of Colombian peso.
Design: Imre Mosdóssy (1904-1995).
Printed by Thomas de la Rue de Colombia, Bogotá.
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 1,000,000 copies.
Size: 25 x 40 mm.

Catalogs
- Leo Temprano No. 1084.
- Michel No. 1038.
- Scott No. C445.
- StampWorld No. 1020.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1135.
- Yvert et Tellier No. PA 427.

The Postal Union of the Americas and Spain (Unión Postal de las Américas y España, UPAE), which in 1990 was expanded and renamed Postal Union of the Americas, Spain and Portugal (Unión Postal de las Américas, España y Portugal, UPAEP), is an association of the postal authorities of 26 countries. It was founded in 1911 as Unión de Correos Sudamericanos (Union of South American Posts) at the initiative of Francisco García y Santos, General Director of the Uruguay Post Office; between 1921 and 1931 it was called Unión Postal Panamericana (Pan-American Postal Union). It is part of the Universal Postal Union (UPU) as a restricted union. It is based in Montevideo, Uruguay. Its first antecedent was the Unión Grancolombiana, created in 1838 and made up of Ecuador, Colombia and Venezuela.

COLOMBIA

COLOMBIA.

2nd National Philatelic Exhibition, Bogotá, December 1953.
Real Estate Tax Stamp surcharged.
Map with the location of Colombia in South America and portrait of Manuel Murillo Toro.
Stamp issued on 12.12.1953.
Face value: 5 cents over 5 Colombian pesos.
Printing: Offset lithography and recess.
Printed by the American Bank Note Company, New York.
Print: 200,000 copies.
Size: 31 x 52 mm.

Catalogues
- Leo Temprano No. 765.
- Michel No. 666.
- Scott No. 618.
- StampWorld No. 649.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 784.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 483.

An interesting detail on the stamp: the Masonic symbol that appears in the upper right. Freemasonry played a very important role in the independence processes of Colombia.

Manuel Murillo Toro (Chaparral, United Provinces of New Granada, January 1, 1816 - Bogotá, December 26, 1880) was a Colombian politician and writer, twice president of the United States of Colombia by the Colombian Liberal Party (April 8 1864 - April 1, 1866; and April 1, 1872 - April 1, 1874). He participated in the Rionegro Convention, which gave the country a new Constitution and a new name, Estados Unidos de Colombia (United States of Colombia), in 1863. He sponsored, supported, and enacted legislation in favor of the rights of freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, and freedom of the press. He also established the National Press and Telegraph Institute and the National Institute of Cartography. His death marked the end of the influence of radical liberal ideas in the Colombian government, giving way to conservative governments for almost 50 years.

COLOMBIA

COLOMBIA.

Mount Nevado del Ruiz.
Airmail. Tenth stamp in a set of 15, issued on 15.01.1954.
Face value: 80 cents of Colombian peso.
Design: Leslie Downey (1915-2001).
Printing: Recess.
Print: 500,000 copies.
Size: 30 x 35 mm.

Catalogues
- Leo Temprano No. 776.
- Michel No. 679.
- Scott No. C248.
- StampWorld No. 662.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 799.
- Yvert et Tellier No. PA 247.

The Nevado del Ruiz, also known as La Mesa de Herveo, with an altitude of 5,321 m (17,457 ft), is one of several stratovolcanoes within the Los Nevados National Natural Park, located in the center of the Colombian Andes, on the border of the departments of Caldas and Tolima, near the city of Manizales and about 130 km (80 miles) west of the city of Bogotá. It has been active for almost two million years, with three major eruptive periods. The current volcanic cone, covered in glaciers, began to form 150,000 years ago. The most recent eruptions occurred in 1984, 1985, 1991, 2012, and 2020; the eruption of November 13, 1985 caused more than 20,000 deaths in Armero and other towns. Between 1868 and 1869, German geologists Reiss and Stübel were the first to attempt to climb the Ruiz on a documented expedition, and in 1936, Cunet and Gansser were the first to do so successfully.

VENEZUELA

VENEZUELA.

150th anniversary of the creation of Greater Colombia.
Historical map of Greater Colombia (Gran Colombia).
Stamp issued on 16.12.1969.
Face value: 0.45 Venezuelan bolívar.
Printing: Offset lithography.
Printed by Litografía del Comercio, Caracas.
Print: 1,000,000 copies.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 1816
- Scott No. 956.
- StampWorld No. 1835.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 2104.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 796.

Greater Colombia (Gran Colombia) is the historiographical designation of a large disappeared country in South America, which legally existed between 1819 and 1831, created by the Congress of Angostura (now Ciudad Bolívar) through a fundamental law ratified in 1821 in Cúcuta, where the national Constitution was drawn up. The country was formed by the union of Venezuela and New Granada into a single nation under the name of the Republic of Colombia, which was later joined by Panama (1821), Quito and Guayaquil (1822). The capital was Bogotá and the first president was Simón Bolívar. Its surface corresponded to the current republics of Colombia, Ecuador, Panama and Venezuela (including Guayana Esequiba) and other territories that later passed to Brazil, Peru, Nicaragua and Honduras. The country dissolved in the late 1820s and early 1830s, due to political differences between supporters of federalism and centralism, as well as regional tensions.

COLOMBIA

COLOMBIA.

International Geophysical Year.
Portrait of Francisco José de Caldas. 
First stamp in a sef of 3, issued on 12.05.1958.
Face value: 10 cents of Colombian peso.
Design: Imre Mosdóssy (1904-1995).
Printed by the ÖsterreichischeStaatsdruckerei (Imprenta Nacional de Austria).
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 5,000,000 copies.
Size: 40 x 25 mm.

Catalogues
- Leo Temprano No. 895.
- Michel No. 827.
- Scott No. 680.
- StampWorld No. 809.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 933.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 547.

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.

Francisco José de Caldas y Tenorio (Popayán, October 4, 1768 - Santafé, October 28, 1816) was a Colombian scientist, military engineer, geographer, botanist, astronomer, naturalist and journalist, hero of the independence of Colombia. For his erudition and many knowledge about so many disciplines he was known among his contemporaries as El Sabio (“The Sage”), epithet with which he went down in the history of Colombia. He was the creator of the first hypsometer.

COLOMBIA

COLOMBIA.

Platinum production. Map of Chocó department.
Eleventh stamp in a set of 22, issued on 05.03.1956.
Face value: 20 cent of Colombian peso.
Printing: Recess.
Printed by Thomas de la Rue & Co., Ltd, London.
Print: 2,000,000 copies.
Size: 30 x 35 mm.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 778.
- Scott No. 654.
- StampWorld No. 760.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 883.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 519.

The department of Chocó is located in the northwest of Colombia, on the border with Panama, and has coasts on the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean. Its territory was explored for the first time in 1501 by Rodrigo de Bastidas, and in 1510 Vasco Núñez de Balboa founded there Santa María la Antigua del Darién, the first European city on America. The Spanish traders introduced African slaves, some of whom rebelled in 1728 and proclaimed their leader king. The clashes with the Spanish troops concluded with the proclamation of independence of Chocó on February 2, 1813. The municipality of Condoto became the world capital of platinum due to the extraction, legal and illegal, of that metal and also of gold.

COLOMBIA

COLOMBIA.

Map of San Andrés and Providencia archipielago.
Fourth stamp in a set of 22, issued on 05.03.1956.
Face value: 5 cents of Colombian peso.
Printing: Recess.
Printed by Thomas de la Rue & Co. Ltd, London.
Print: 10,000,000 copies.
Size: 30 x 35 mm.

Catalogues
- Michel No. 771.
- Scott No. 849.
- StampWorld No. 753.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 874.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 512.

The Archipelago of San Andrés and Providencia (to which the island of Santa Catalina was later added) is located west of the Caribbean Sea, 775 km (480 nautical miles) northwest of the Atlantic coast of the Colombian mainland, and 220 km (140 nautical miles) from the eastern coasts of Central America, specifically Nicaragua and Honduras. Its area is 52 km² (20 sq mi).
Apparently, the islands were sighted by Christopher Columbus during his fourth voyage in 1502, which is not documented. In 1510, however, Spain took official possession of the archipelago, but did not promote settlements there. Between 1629 and 1630 the first settlers, Dutch and English from Bermuda and Barbados, settled there, and from 1680 the islands were under British colonial jurisdiction until 1775, when the settlers were expelled, and in 1803 they became part of the Viceroyalty of New Granada. Between 1818 and 1821 they were taken by the French privateer Louis-Michel Aury, who put them at the service of Simón Bolívar's troops. On June 23, 1822, the flag of Gran Colombia was raised for the first time in the archipelago. Nicaragua claimed the islands, but a ruling of the International Court of Justice of November 19, 2012 definitively awarded the territory to the Republic of Colombia.

COLOMBIA

COLOMBIA.

Railroad network. Atlantic railway, 1961.
Map of railroads of Colombia.
Stamp issued on 28.09.1962.
Face value: 10 cents of Colombian peso.
Printing: Photogravure.
Printing: Fábrica Nacional de Moneda y Timbre, Madrid.
Print: 5,000,000 copies.
Size: 25 x 41 mm.

Catalogues
- Leo Temprano No. 1079.
- Michel No. 1032.
- StampWorld No. 1014.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 1129.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 608. 

COLOMBIA

COLOMBIA.

Galeras volcano (Volcán Galeras).
Airmail. First stamp in a set of 15, issued on 15.01.1954.
Face value: 5 cent of Colombian peso.
Design: Leslie Downey (1915-2001).
Printed: Recess.
Print: 5,000,000 copies.
Size: 30 x 35 mm.

Catalogs
- Leo Temprano No. 767.
- Michel No. 670.
- StampWorld No. 653.
- Stanley Gubbons No. 788.
- Yvert et Tellier No. PA238.

The Galeras volcano is located in southern Colombia, in the Cordillera Central (one of the branches of the Andes), 9 km (5.6 mi) from the city of San Juan de Pasto, capital of the department of Nariño. Its altitude is 4,276 m (14,029 ft). It is the most active volcano in Colombia, with news of major eruptions since the 16th century. The first recorded historical eruption dates from December 7, 1580. Since then records of its activity have been kept, which increased in the second half of the 1990s.

The Quillasingo indigenous people gave it the name Urcunina or Urqunina, which means "mountain of fire." The name "Galeras" was given by the Spanish conquerors who arrived in the region at the beginning of the 16th century, since the silhouette of the summit seemed similar to the galleys of ships propelled by the force of the oars.

-
Thanks to María Luisa Romero for his contribution.

COLOMBIA

COLOMBIA.

Tequendama Waterfall (Salto del Tequendama).
132 meters / 433 ft. Bogotá river, Department of Cundinamarca.
Stamp issued on 25.08.1917.
Face value: 10 cents of Colombian peso.
Printed by Perkins, Bacon & Co., London.
Size: 45 x 25 mm.
Print: 875,000 copies.

Catalogs
- Leo Temprano No. R21.
- Michel No. 252.
- Stanley Gibbons No. R370.
- Yvert and Tellier No. LC61.

The Tequendama Falls (Spanish: Salto del Tequendama) is a 132 m (433 ft) high waterfall of the Bogotá River, at a height of 2,385 m (7,825 ft) above sea level, located 32 km (20 mi) southwest of Bogotá in the municipality of Soacha (department of Cundinamarca). The river emerges through a rocky gorge that narrows to about 18 m (59 ft) at the edge of the fall. During the month of December the falls dry up completely.