The World in My Mailbox : March 2015

Louisiana

Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States. Louisiana is the 31st most extensive and the 25th most populous of the 50 United States. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state in the U.S. with political subdivisions termed parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties. The largest parish by population is East Baton Rouge Parish, and the largest by land area is Plaquemines.
Much of the state's lands were formed from sediment washed down the Mississippi River, leaving enormous deltas and vast areas of coastal marsh and swamp. The two "Deltas" are located in Monroe, the parish seat of Ouachita Parish, Shreveport, the parish seat of Caddo Parish, and Alexandria, the parish seat of Rapides Parish, for the small Delta, and Monroe, Lake Charles, and New Orleans for the large Delta. They are referred to as Deltas because they form a perfect triangle shape when the points are lined up. These contain a rich southern biota; typical examples include birds such as ibis and egrets. There are also many species of tree frogs, and fish such as sturgeon and paddlefish. In more elevated areas, fire is a natural process in the landscape, and has produced extensive areas of longleaf pine forest and wet savannas. These support an exceptionally large number of plant species, including many species of orchids and carnivorous plants.

Landesaufnahme. Kartogr. Abteilung. Date: 1903 Location: Beijing (China)

The city of Dadu, the forerunner of Beijing of the Ming and Qing dynasties, was built in 1264 by the Yuan Dynasty. Dadu's design followed several rules from the book Rites of Zhou: "nine vertical axis, nine horizontal axis"; "palaces in the front, markets in the rear"; "left ancestral worship, right god worship". It was broad in scale, strict in planning and execution, and complete in equipment.
Dadu had 11 city gates. The eastern, southern, and western sides had three gates per side, and the northern wall had two gates. The three eastern gates, from north to south, were called Guangximen, Chongrenmen, and Qihuamen. The three southern gates, from west to east, were called Shunchengmen, Lizhengmen, and Wenmingmen. The three western gates, from north to south, were called Suqingmen, Heyimen, and Pingzemen. The two northern gates, from west to east, were called Jiandemen and Anzhenmen.
In August 1368 General Xu Da of the Ming Dynasty captured the city. The Khan of Yuan, Yuan Shundi, escaped from the city without defending it, and thus the city sustained no damage. Xu Da decided that Dadu's fortification system was too large to defend during a siege, so he ordered the city's northern walls rebuilt 2.8 kilometres to the south of the original location. This construction pre-empted the planned expansion of the city into areas to the north. The new wall was constructed with an extra layer of bricks, further strengthening the city's defences.

Thank you so much Yang Yi for ur nice card :) and stamps

Thank you soo much Anna for your beautiful card and stamp :)

Thank you soo much Ilse your gift :)

Thank you soo much Ilse for your gift :)

Thank you so much Weino for your beautiful card like it very much :)

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RUSSIA

Thank you soo much Naol for your cute card it soo nice like it very much :)

The Smurfs

The Smurfs is a Belgian comic and television franchise centered on a fictional colony of small blue creatures who live in mushroom-shaped houses in the forest. The Smurfs was first created and introduced as a series of comic characters by the Belgian comics artist Peyo (pen name of Pierre Culliford) in 1958, where they were known as Les Schtroumpfs. There are more than one hundred Smurf characters, and their names are based on adjectives that emphasize their characteristics, such as "Jokey Smurf", who likes to play practical jokes on his fellow smurfs. "Smurfette" was the first female Smurf to be introduced in the series. The Smurfs wear Phrygian caps, which came to represent freedom during the modern era.

Thank you soo much Sally for your beautiful card and soo lovely stamps like this soooooooooo much thanks again :)

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TALLINN

Tallinn occupies an area of 159.2 km2 (61.5 sq mi) and has a population of 435,245.[2] It is situated on the northern coast of the country, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, 80 km (50 mi) south of Helsinki, east of Stockholm and west of Saint Petersburg. Tallinn's Old Town is listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.[5] It is ranked as a global city and has been listed among the top 10 digital cities in the world.[6] The city was a European Capital of Culture for 2011, along with Turku in Finland.
The city was known as Reval from the 13th century until 1917[7] and again during the Nazi occupation of Estonia from 1941 to 1944.

thank you soo much tina for your nice card and stamps .. :)

The koala

The koala is an arboreal herbivorous marsupial native to Australia. It is the only extant representative of the family Phascolarctidae, and its closest living relatives are the wombats.The koala is found in coastal areas of the mainland's eastern and southern regions, inhabiting Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. It is easily recognisable by its stout, tailless body; round, fluffy ears; and large, spoon-shaped nose. The koala has a body length of 60–85 cm (24–33 in) and weighs 4–15 kg (9–33 lb). Pelage colour ranges from silver grey to chocolate brown. Koalas from the northern populations are typically smaller and lighter in colour than their counterparts further south. It is possible that these populations are separate subspecies, but this is disputed.