Kyrgyzstan, officially the Kyrgyz Republic, formerly known as Kirghizia,
is a landlocked country located in Central Asia, bordered by Kazakhstan
to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan
to the south west and China to the east.
Its capital and largest city is Bishkek.
Kyrgyzstan has historically been at the crossroads of several great
civilizations, namely as part of the Silk Road and other commercial and cultural routes.
Though long inhabited by a succession of independent tribes and clans,
Kyrgyzstan has periodically come under foreign domination and attained sovereignty
as a nation-state only after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991.
[R1]
The postal history of Kyrgyzstan began when the nation declared independence in August 1991.
Under the Soviet Union, the Kyrgyz SSR postal service was an integral part of the Soviet system.
Kyrgyzstan is a member state of the Universal Postal Union since 1993 with its two designated postal operators -
the State Enterprise Kyrgyz Pochtasy (KP) who has produced stamps since 1992
and privately held Kyrgyz Express Post (KEP), who issued their first stamp on 18 November 2014.
It’s the only member country of the UPU to have two official postal administrations
issuing stamps for the country.
[R2]
So far only "Kyrgyz Pochtasy" issued some Paleontology related stamps.
"Kyrgyz Express Post LLC" might issue their first stamps of prehistoric animals in 2024.
Official stamps of Kyrgyzstan related to Paleontology: dinosaurs and other prehistoric animals
The following video shows some prehistoric animals of Kyrgyzstan (not only Uzbekistan),
including some animals depicted on the stamps above.
Notes: [1] The stamps issued in Mini-Sheet of 6 stamps as well as in separated 6 sheets.
There are some forged Mini-Sheets available on the market.
Many of them are offered on the Internet.
The forged stamps are easily recognized as they have too much red and black color, making them appear blurry.
Original Mini-Sheet of Kyrgyzstan 1998, MiNr.: 147-152 (A - perforated, B- imperforated), Scott: 118a-f
Forged Mini-Sheet of Kyrgyzstan 1998.
This forgery can be recognized by having too much red and black color, which makes the image appear blurry.
[2] Exists as an imperforate variety as well.
Postmarks of Kyrgyzstan related to Paleontology: prehistoric animals
[R2] Postal History and Philately of Kyrgyzstan:Wikipedia,
Kyrghyz stamp,
Kyrgyz Express Post LLC
Links to official website of the Post Authority, stamp catalog and a list of new stamps of Kyrgyzstan
are here.
Acknowledgements:
Many thanks to Dr. Peter Voice from Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Western Michigan University,
for the draft page review and his valuable comments.