Curaçao - Land Curaçao (Dutch) Pais Kòrsou

Curaçao ( Papiamento: Kòrsou) is a Lesser Antilles island country in the southern Caribbean Sea and the Dutch Caribbean region, about 65 km (40 mi) north of the Venezuelan coast. It is a constituent country (Dutch: land) of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Together with Aruba and Bonaire it forms the ABC islands. Collectively, Curaçao and the other Dutch islands in the Caribbean are often called the Dutch Caribbean.

The country was formerly part of the Curaçao and Dependencies colony in 1815–1954 and later the Netherlands Antilles in 1954–2010, as "Island Territory of Curaçao" (Dutch: Eilandgebied Curaçao, Papiamento: Teritorio Insular di Kòrsou) and is now formally called the Country of Curaçao (Dutch: Land Curaçao, Papiamento: Pais Kòrsou). It includes the main island of Curaçao and the much smaller, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao ("Little Curaçao"). Curaçao an area of 444 km² (171 sq mi); its capital is Willemstad.

Curaçao, as well as the rest of the ABC islands and also Trinidad and Tobago, lies on the continental shelf of South America. It is a thin island with a generally hilly topography; the highest point is the Mount Christoffelberg 372 m (1,220 ft) in the north-west. The coastlines bays, inlets and hot springs offer an on-site source of natural mineral, thermal, or seawater used in hydrotherapy and mesotherapy, making this island one of many balneoclimateric areas in the region. Off the south-east coast lies the small, flat island of Klein Curaçao.

Curaçao, a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands started issuing postal stamps after the dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles on 10 October 2010. The island forms one of the five postage regions in the Kingdom. The first stamp issued shows the map of the island. The value of the current stamp is denominated in Netherlands Antillean guilders. The postage stamps and postal history of the postal areas Netherlands Antilles as well as its predecessor Curaçao is interesting. The area consisted of the islands Bonaire, Saba and Sint Eustatius (now part of the Netherlands as postal area "Caribbean Netherlands") as well as Sint Maarten, Curaçao and Aruba (which each are separate postal areas). 

Early mail service in the islands of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the Caribbean consisted of carriage by casual ship, and a number of letters are recorded from this period. A British post office operated during the occupation of 1807 to 1815. In 1825, the Dutch government established a post office at Willemstad; from then until 1834 a packet operated between there and Hellevoetsluis. From 1842 to 1854, mail was carried by British packets, and after 1854 by the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company, until 1885.

The first postage stamps of Curaçao (the name was used for the six islands collectively when the areas was named Curaçao and Dependencies and Territory of Curaçao) were issued 23 May 1873; they depicted William III in profile, and were inscribed "CURAÇAO", as were all issues for the next 77 years. The six original values (2½c to 50c) were joined by a 2.50-gulden value in 1879, a 12½c in 1886, and four more values in 1889. All of these were issued without gum (due to the heat and humidity) until 1890.

The name of the colony officially changed in 1949, and was first inscribed in two stamps issued in October for the 74th anniversary of the UPU. The name change also entailed new definitives, which began appearing in 1950, using the same design as issued for the Netherlands the previous year, but inscribed "NED. ANTILLEN".

A handful of commemoratives appeared during the 1950s, and then 1958 new definitives adopted a simple and artistic designs representing the different islands. The designs continued in use for many years, with new sets of (higher) values supplementing the originals in 1973 and 1977. After Aruba obtained the status of country in the Kingdom of the Netherlands, it formed its own postal area. After the Dissolution of the Netherlands Antilles, three issuing identities formed: Curaçao, Sint Maarten and the Caribbean Netherlands.

 

This Registered Airmail cover sent  Tirza who were working in the philatelic department of Curacao. These stamps are from the series of their first definitive stamps after the independence.

This is another beautiful  Airmail cover sent by my friend Tirza. These stamps are also from the series of their first definitive stamps after the independence.