KYRGYZSTAN - Кыргыз Республикасы ( KYRGYZ POCHTASI - KP )

Kyrgyzstan (Kyrgyz: Кыргызстан, Qırğızstan, Kyrgyz pronunciation: ), officially the Kyrgyz Republic (Kyrgyz: Кыргыз Республикасы, romanized: Qırğız Respubliqası; Russian: Кыргызская Республика) and also known as Kirghizia (Russian: Киргизия), is a country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is a landlocked country with mountainous terrain. It is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west and southwest, Tajikistan to the southwest and China to the east. Its capital and largest city is Bishkek.

Kyrgyzstan's recorded history spans over 2,000 years, encompassing a variety of cultures and empires. Although geographically isolated by its highly mountainous terrain, which has helped preserve its ancient culture, Kyrgyzstan has been at the crossroads of several great civilizations as part of the Silk Road and other commercial and cultural routes. Though long inhabited by a succession of independent tribes and clans, Kyrgyzstan has periodically fallen under foreign domination and attained sovereignty as a nation-state only after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.

"Kyrgyz" is believed to have been derived from the Turkic word for "forty", about the forty clans of Manas, a legendary hero who united forty regional clans against the Uyghurs. Literally, Kyrgyz means We are forty. At the time, in the early 9th century AD, the Uyghurs dominated much of Central Asia (including Kyrgyzstan), Mongolia, and parts of Russia and China. "-stan" is a word in the Persian language meaning "place of" or "country". The 40-ray sun on the flag of Kyrgyzstan is a reference to those same forty tribes and the graphical element in the sun's center depicts the wooden crown, called tunduk, of a yurt—a portable dwelling traditionally used by nomads in the steppes of Central Asia. In terms of naming conventions, the country's official name is "Kyrgyz Republic" whenever it is used in some international arenas and foreign relations. However, in the English-speaking world, the spelling Kyrgyzstan is commonly used while its former name Kirghizia is rarely used as such.

The postal history of Kyrgyzstan began when the nation declared independence in August 1991. Under the Soviet Union, the Kyrgyz SSR postal service was an integral part of the Soviet system. The republic was periodically recognized in sets of stamps honoring the different parts of the USSR. Kyrgyzstan is a member state of the Universal Postal Union since 1993 with its two designated postal operators - "Kyrgyz Pochtasy" SE and "Kyrgyz Express Post" LLC. Kyrgyzstan issued its first postage stamp on 4 February 1992, a single design depicting the Sary-Chelek Nature Preserve in Jalal-Abad Province. The country's name was given in both Cyrillic and Latin letters; many Kyrgyz stamps have since done likewise, although the practice is not consistent, with some stamps only inscribed in Cyrillic and others only in Latin. In April and June 1993, several types of Russian stamps were surcharged in ruble values, followed in August by the first stamps denominated in tyiyn.

In 2014 the second designated postal operator of Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyz Express Post (KEP), decided to issue its stamps by the consent of the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. During that year, KEP has presented two issues of stamps. The first one, issued on November 18, was dedicated to the 140th anniversary of the Universal Postal Union and Postal transportation of Kyrgyzstan. The second one, issued on November 19, was dedicated to Fauna of Kyrgyzstan.

Kyrgyzstan has two official postal operators, Kyrgyz Postasi and Kyrgyz Express Post ( KEP). The first one is Government owned and KEP is new one introduced in 2013. Before the arrival of KEP, Kyrgyzstan was a bad country for philatelists, especially for cover collectors. They allow only one stamp to be used on an envelope and if we use more, the least valued one only considered. At the same time they issue a number of thematic stamps too. Later when KEP arrived they issued stunning thematic stamps and promoted philately very much, now become one of the best philatelic service in the world. 

The covers posted on December 12, 2015 and I received on Dec 23, 2015.