HAITI - République d'Haïti / Repiblik Ayiti

Haiti (French: Haïti [a.iti]; Haitian Creole: Ayiti), officially the Republic of Haiti (French: République d'Haïti; Haitian Creole: Repiblik D Ayiti) and formerly called Hayti, is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles archipelago of the Caribbean Sea, to the east of Cuba and Jamaica and south of The Bahamas and the Turks and Caicos Islands. It occupies the western three-eighths of the island which it shares with the Dominican Republic. To its south-west lies the small island of Navassa Island, which is claimed by Haiti but is disputed as a United States territory under federal administration. Haiti is 27,750 square kilometers (10,714 sq mi) in size.

The name Haiti (or Hayti) comes from the indigenous Taíno language which was the native name given to the entire island of Hispaniola to mean, "land of high mountains." The h is silent in French and the ï in Haïti has a diacritical mark used to show that the second vowel is pronounced separately, as in the word naïve. In English, this rule for the pronunciation is often disregarded, thus the spelling Haiti is used. There are different anglicizations for its pronunciation such as HIGH-ti, high-EE-ti and haa-EE-ti, which are still in use, but HAY-ti is the most widespread and best-established. The name was restored by Haitian revolutionary Jean-Jacques Dessalines as the official name of independent Saint-Domingue, as a tribute to the Amerindian predecessors.In French, Haiti's nickname is the "Pearl of the Antilles" (La Perle des Antilles) because of both its natural beauty, and the amount of wealth it accumulated for the Kingdom of France; during the 18th century the colony was the world's leading producer of sugar and coffee.

Most mammal species are not native, having being brought to the island since colonial times. However there are various native bat species, as well as the endemic Hispaniolan hutia and Hispaniolan solenodon. Various whale and dolphin species can also be found off Haiti's coast. There are over 260 species of bird, 31 of these being endemic to Hispaniola. Notable endemic species include the Hispaniola trogon, Hispaniola parakeet, grey-crowned tanager and the Hispaniola Amazon. There are also several raptor species, as well as pelicans, ibis, hummingbirds and ducks. Reptiles are common, with species such as the rhinoceros iguana, Haitian boa, American crocodile and gecko. John James Audubon – ornithologist and painter; born in 1785 in Les Cayes, Saint-Domingue; his parents returned to France, where he was educated; emigrated to the United States as a young man and made a career as he painted, catalogued and described the birds of North America.

The first stamp of Haiti was issued in 1881 in the 1c value. It showed the head of Liberty. Haiti issued a number of thematic stamps, But After the earth quake in 2000, the economy of the country totally collapsed. The mail services became very expensive, and shortage of stamps also experienced. The postage to international is 300 Gourde, but only 20Gourde value stamps are available in the post office. So the letter will be getting too many stamps affixed on top of one another. The philatelic services also closed, and no new stamps issued after 2009.

Haiti is one among the rarest country for philatelists. After the terrific earthquake, all major post offices and networks were destroyed and the postal service became too much expensive. It was 10 Gourde to India before the earthquake, now it is 300 Gourde ( approx 15$) . Only the post office in Airport is working well, and no registered service too. Sadly they do not have high value stamps or franking machine, so affixing large number of small value stamps on top of one another. The highest value stamp available is 20 Gourde. The cover posted by my very good friend Gaby from Port au-Prince, capital city of Haiti on Jan 18, 2017 But not arrived. So I sent again with few envelopes via DHL, luckily came back them safely. Haiti was my last missing country in my cover collection, Now I reached in the finishing point with the winner's flag. Thank You Gaby and Denise for the great gift.

SAINT LUCIA

Saint Lucia (French: Sainte-Lucie) is a sovereign island country in the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea on the boundary with the Atlantic Ocean. The island was previously called Iyonola, the name given to the island by the native Amerindians and later, Hewanorra, the name given by the native Caribs. Part of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent, northwest of Barbados and south of Martinique. It covers a land area of 617 km² (238 square miles) and reported a population of 165,595 in the 2010 census. Its capital is Castries.

The French were the island's first European settlers. They signed a treaty with the native Island Caribs in 1660. England took control of the island from 1663 to 1667. In ensuing years, it was at war with France fourteen times, and the rule of the island changed frequently (it was ruled seven times each by the French and British). In 1814, the British took definitive control of the island. Because it switched so often between British and French control, Saint Lucia was also known as the "Helen of the West Indies" after the Greek mythological character, Helen of Troy. Representative government came about in 1840 (universal suffrage was established in 1953). From 1958 to 1962, the island was a member of the West Indies Federation. On 22 February 1979, Saint Lucia became an independent state and a member of the Commonwealth of Nations.

Letters to the United Kingdom from St. Lucia had to be prepaid from 1 April 1858. British stamps were authorised for use in St Lucia and this information was conveyed to the Colonial Postmaster by Rowland Hill. Obliterators were sent to the Island from Great Britain with the designator "A11" to coincide with the dispatch of British Stamps to the colony (see above). The first was sent on 16 April 1858 with the first recorded use on 28 August that year. The first stamps issued by St. Lucia were put on sale in 1860 and consisted of three duties (1d, 4d and 6d). The stamps were printed by Perkins Bacon Ltd using the line-engraved process. To save the Colony money only one plate was engraved, with the duties identified by the colour of the stamps.  This company carried mail by sea from Castries to the coastal villages of St. Lucia. Stamps were issued from around 1871 to 1872 when the company went out of business. A possibly provisional stamp is illustrated in the book by Hurt and Williams which was followed by the issue of several values depicting a steamship in an oval frame. There are a number of different printings of the stamps which may be distinguished by paper and gum variations.

 St.Lucia cover with new series of UPU barcode label. long back the postal services used the similar barcode but after that they started to use own barcode labels similar to St.Vincent Post Corporation. Now again they come back to the UPU labels, which is my favorite one.

These  Registered Airmail covers sent from the Philatelic Bureau of St.Lucia in Castries. St.Lucia previously used UPU barcode labels for registered mails , now they shifted to common Caribbean designed barcode labels similar to St.Vincent . Soon Grenada also will accept the similar design. The covers posted on  November 16, 2016 and I received on December 13,2016.

The covers posted on April 22, 2015 and I received on May 02, 2015. The registered one reached on May 14, 2015. 

MARTINIQUE

Martinique (Martinican Creole: Matnik or Matinik) is an island which is part of the French Republic, located in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea, with a land area of 1,128 square kilometres (436 sq mi) and a population of 376,480 inhabitants as of January 2016. It is an overseas territorial collectivity of the French Republic. One of the Windward Islands, it is directly north of Saint Lucia, northwest of Barbados and south of Dominica. Martinique is also an Outermost Region (OMR) of European Union as a special territories of the European Union and the currency in use is the euro. 

Virtually the entire population speaks both French, the only official language and Martinican Creole, an Antillean Creole. Together with French Guiana, Martinique is one of the Special Collectivity  (Unique in french) of the French Republic. It is also an outermost region of the European Union. The inhabitants of Martinique are French citizens with full political and legal rights. Martinique sends four deputies to the French National Assembly and two senators to the French Senate.

On January 24, 2010, during a referendum, the inhabitants of Martinique approved by 68.4% the change to be an “Special (Unique) Collectivity" within the framework of article 73 of the French Republic's Constitution. The new council replaces and exercises the powers of both the General Council and the regional council. It is thought that Martinique is a corruption of the native name for the island (Madiana/Madinina, meaning 'island of flowers'), as relayed to Christopher Columbus when he visited the island in 1502. According to historian Sydney Daney, the island was called "Jouanacaëra" by the Caribs, which means "the island of iguanas". The northern end of the island catches most of the rainfall and is heavily forested, featuring species such as bamboo, mahogany, rosewood and locust. The south is drier and dominated by savanna-like brush, including cacti, Copaiba balsam, logwood and acacia. Anole lizards and fer-de-lance snakes are native to the island. Mongooses (Herpestes auropunctatus), introduced in the 1800s to control the snake population, have become a particularly cumbersome introduced species as they prey upon bird eggs and have exterminated or endangered a number of native birds, including the Martinique trembler, white-breasted trembler and white-breasted thrasher.

Stamps of France were used in Martinique from 1851, and the French colonies general issues from 1859. The first stamp of Martinique was issued on 18 July 1886, overprinting "Martinique" on the French colonies general issues. In 1892, the first definitive set, the French colonial series, was issued. A series of pictorial stamps issued in 1908 featured local themes. Martinique has used the stamps of France since becoming an overseas region in 1974.

These airmail covers came from Martinique Island , a french Overseas territory in Caribbean Sea. The covers posted on March 28, 2016 and I received on November 23, 2016.