Gabon

Dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals, flint tools on stamps of Gabon

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Contents:
Gabon officially the Gabonese Republic, is a sovereign state on the west coast of Central Africa. Located on the equator, Gabon is bordered by Equatorial Guinea to the northwest, Cameroon to the north, the Republic of the Congo on the east and south, and the Gulf of Guinea to the west. It has an area of nearly 270,000 square kilometers and its population is estimated at 1.5 million people. Its capital and largest city is Libreville. [R1]

The earliest post office was set up at Libreville in 1862; mail from there was routed through the British post office on Fernando Po (now Bioko, an island hosting the capital city of Equatorial Guinea). Mail used the stamps of the French Colonies general issue, cancelled with a "GAB" inside a lozenge of dots. On 31 July 1886 Gabon issued its first stamps, which were surcharges on the existing stock, to cover shortages of the most-used values. The overprint consisted of "GAB" in dots, plus the new value.
Although the Republic was proclaimed in November 1958, the people continued to use the stamps of French Equatorial Africa, and the first issue of the Republic came on its 1st anniversary, 28 November 1959, with two values depicting different views of Prime Minister Léon M'ba. [R2]
Between 1995 and 2000 IGPC agency produced many stamps, include two big issues of dinosaurs and prehistoric animals, on behalf of Gabon.



Official stamps of Gabon related to Paleontology: dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals

04.09.1995 "Prehistoric animals" 20.12.2000 "Prehistoric animals"
Dinosaurs and other prehistoric animal on stamps of Gabon 1995 Dinosaurs and other prehistoric animal on stamps of Gabon 2000


Other stamps to consider: flint on stamps

14.02.1990 "Prehistory of Gabon" [A1]
Flint tools on stamps of Gabon 1990

Notes:
[A1] flint tools



References:
  •   [R1] Gabon: Wikipedia WikiTravel FlagCounter
  •   [R2] Postal History and Philately of Gabon: Wikipedia
              Links to official website of the Post Authority, stamp catalog and a list of new stamps of Gabon are here



Acknowledgement:
Dr. Peter Voice from Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Western Michigan University, for reviewing the draft page and his valuable comments.


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