SAINT HELENA

Saint Helena , is a remote volcanic tropical island in the South Atlantic Ocean, belonging to the United Kingdom. The island lies some 1,950 kilometres (1,210 mi) west of the coast of southwestern Africa, and 4,000 kilometres (2,500 mi) east of Rio de Janeiro on the South American coast. It is one of three British Overseas Territory grouped as Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha. Saint Helena measures about 16 by 8 kilometres (10 by 5 mi) and has a population of 4,534 (2016 census). It was named after Saint Helena of Constantinople. It is one of the most isolated islands in the world and was uninhabited when discovered by the Portuguese in 1502. It was an important stopover for ships sailing to Europe from Asia and South Africa for centuries. The island was the place of imprisonment of Napoleon by the British from 1815 to his death in 1821. Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo was imprisoned there (for leading a Zulu army against British rule), along with more than 5,000 Boers taken prisoner during the Second Boer War, including Piet Cronjé. Saint Helena is Britain's second-oldest overseas territory after Bermuda.

Saint Helena has long been known for its high proportion of endemic birds and vascular plants. The highland areas contain most of the 400 endemic species recognised to date. Much of the island has been identified by BirdLife International as being important for bird conservation, especially the endemic Saint Helena plover or wirebird, and for seabirds breeding on the offshore islets and stacks, in the north-east and the south-west Important Bird Areas. On the basis of these endemics and an exceptional range of habitats, Saint Helena is on the United Kingdom's tentative list for future UNESCO World Heritage Sites. Artist Rolf Weijburg produced various etches on Saint Helena, picturing various of these endemic birds.

Saint Helena's biodiversity, however, also includes marine vertebrates, invertebrates (freshwater, terrestrial and marine), fungi (including lichen-forming species), non-vascular plants, seaweeds and other biological groups. To date, very little is known about these, although more than 200 lichen-forming fungi have been recorded, including nine endemics, suggesting that many significant discoveries remain to be made. Various flora and fauna on the island have become extinct. Due to deforestation, the last wild endemic St Helena olive tree, Nesiota elliptica died in 1994, and by December 2003, the last cultivated olive tree died. The native St.Helena earwig was last seen in the wild in 1967.

A large reforestation project has been underway since 2000 in the North-Eastern corner of the island, known as the Millennium Forest, to recreate the Great Wood that existed before colonisation.The first stamp of St Helena was issued on 1 January 1856. It was a 6d blue imperforate stamp portraying Queen Victoria. The first Queen Elizabeth issue was for the 1953 Coronation, followed by a pictorial definitive issued 1 month later. Issues were mainly commemorative or omnibus. On 12 October 1961, four Tristan da Cunha stamps were overprinted "ST. HELENA/Tristan Relief" with a surcharge. St. Helena issues commemorative stamps regularly and still takes part in Crown Agents omnibus issues.

My first airmail cover from St.Helena ! After a long waiting, my 3 covers from this remotes island reached in my hand safely with perfect postmark. The covers posted on August 24, 2015,and I received on September 21,2015. St.Helena issues beautiful thematic stamps every year, and the philatelic service is pretty good. Mail service is depend on ship services to the island, so sending and receiving letters take much time. St.Helena has own postal system, but it is under Royal Mail of UK. so all mails go via UK only. Thank you Holger for the beautiful stamps.

This is another cover from St.Helena. The cover is mistakenly postmarked as Jan 2015, instead of Aug 2015.