The first among four postage stamp issues due in 2011 has already been in use. The new postage stamp features Antarctica which is represented by one of its most typical animal species, the leopard seal. The idea has come from the philately community, stamp designer Stoyan Dechev explains.
“There is keen interest in Antarctica and life on it. That is why the council in charge of stamp printing has decided that this animal should be pictured on the postage stamp. I would rather choose a different subject like for example the presence of a post office on that continent.”
Bulgaria has been very active in the research of the ice continent. In 1988 the Bulgarian polar base was built on Livingston Island. In 1993 under a decree issued by President Zhelyu Zhelev it was named after St. Kliment of Ohrid. Since then Bulgarian researchers have been visiting Antarctica for annual expeditions. In 2003 the first and only Orthodox chapel opened there, St. Ivan of Rila. For more than 15 years now No. 1090 post office of the Bulgarian Posts has been in operation in Antarctica. Bulgarian scholar Lyubomir Ivanov succeeded in mapping hundreds of previously unidentified geographical sites on the South Pole. He has studied and mapped peaks, hills, glaciers, islands and bays. Thanks to his efforts more than 550 geographical names collated with the international reference book of geographic names have been mapped. Of them 56 percent have been given Bulgarian names and 44 percent derive from other nations. There is a mount named after the Proto-Bulgarian god Tangra. The Bulgarian names Perunika, Kaliakra, Tundja, Verila, Yakoruda etc. have been given to large Antarctic glaciers. More from Andreana Atanasova, director of Communications Department at the Ministry of Transport, Information Technologies and Communications.
“Thanks to this postage stamp we can promote our good name on that continent and our care in protecting its animal world. The designer has been selected unanimously, for his strong experience in philatelic projects. We hope that this stamp will be reprinted when necessary and will eventually reach all corners of the globe. So far its circulation is 200,000.”
Translated by Daniela Konstantinova
