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| first issues > categories > continents |
It is [almost] always useful and interesting to create alternative ways to slice through data. This page lists first issues by geographical and geo-political characteristics and builds navigation routes through the detail pages.
In February 2016 a project began to write detail pages for the catalog entries and to cross-reference them by category. This was completed in August 2017.
The Scott Classic catalog lists the historical colonies and dependencies of those countries which did that sort of thing and the old Gibbons specialised catalogues were organised geographically. Those lists have provided the basis for this page which covers continents and countries and the subsidiary pages that list states, colonies, provinces, offices abroad and the like.
Country Categories: Africa since independence - Asia - Caribbean - Central and North America - Europe - Middle East - Oceania - Plebiscites - South America
Colonies, States, Occupation, Offices etc.: Argentina - Austria - Belgium - China - Colombia - Denmark - Ecuador - Finland - France - Germany - Great Britain - Greece - Hungary - India - Italy - Japan - Lithuania - Malaya - Netherlands - Nicaragua - Peru - Poland - Portugal - Romania - Russia - Serbia - Spain - Switzerland - Turkey - US Entities - UN - Venezuela - World Firsts
| Europe (Gibbons Parts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11) | |||||
| Country | ID | Gibbons Pt. | First Issue | Sequence # | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aland Islands | 733 | 11 | 1st March 1984 | 54 | |
| Albania | 443 | 3 | June 1913 | 32 | |
| Andorra (French) | 562 | 6 | 16th June 1931 | 49 | |
| Andorra (Spanish) | 558 | 9 | 28th March 1928 | 47 | |
| Armenia | 484, 758 | 10 | 1919 | 39, 39a | |
| Austria | 16 | 2 | 1st June 1850 | 6 | see Austrian states etc |
| Austria-Hungary | 138 | 2 | 1st June 1867 | 6a | |
| Azerbaijan | 497, 753 | 10 | 30th October 1919 | 43, 43a | |
| Belarus | 752 | 10 | 20th March 1992 | 59 | |
| Belgium | 10 | 4 | 1st July 1849 | 3 | |
| Bosnia & Herzegovina | 201, 760, 763, 765 | 2, 3 | 1st July 1879 | 26, a-c | |
| Bulgaria | 198 | 3 | 1st May 1879 | 25 | |
| Crete | 336, 345, 354, 403 | 3 | 1st March 1900 | 29 a-c | Croatia | 589, 746, 762 | 3 | 21st November 1991 | 52 |
| Czech Republic | 761 | 5 | 20th January 1993 | 35a | |
| Czechoslovakia | 471 | 5 | October 1918 | 35 | |
| Denmark | 25 | 11 | 1st April 1851 | 7 | see colonies |
| Eastern Rumelia, South Bulgaria |
203, 228 | 3 | 1880, 1st July 1885 |
27, 27a | Epirus | 445, 446 | 3 | 10th February 1914 | 33, 33a |
| Estonia | 477, 745 | 10 | 22nd November 1918 | 36, 36a | |
| Faroe Islands | 486, 712 | 11 | January 1919 | 41 | |
| Finland | 59 | 11 | 3rd March 1856 | 13 | |
| France | 9 | 6 | 1st January 1849 | 2 | see colonies |
| Georgia | 492, 746 | 10 | 26th May 1919 | 42, 42a | |
| Germany | 169, 618 628 | 7 | 1st January 1872 | 21, a-b | |
| Great Britain | 1, 652, 653, 653a, 700, 701, 702, 732, 772 | 1 | 6th May 1840 | 1, a-h | see Regionals, Commonwealth and Empire |
| Greece | 102 | 3 | 1st October 1861 | 17 | see colonies and states |
| Greenland | 582, 572 | 11 | 1st November 1938 | 50, 50a | incl. Thule |
| Hungary | 167, 478, 493, 498, 522 | 2 | 1st May 1871 | 20, 20a | |
| Iceland | 171 | 11 | 1st January 1873 | 22 | |
| Ireland | 526 | 1 | 17th February 1922 | 45 | |
| Italy | 106, 596 | 8 | 24th February 1862 | 18 | see states, colonies etc. |
| Kazakhstan | 751 | 10 | 17th March 1992 | 58 | |
| Kosovo | 775 | 7th March 2008 | 64 | ||
| Kyrgyzstan | 748 | 10 | 4th February 1992 | 57 | |
| - Kyrgyz Express Post | 781 | - | 18th November 2014 | 57a | |
| Latvia | 482, 742 | 10 | 18th December 1918 | 37, 37a | |
| Liechtenstein | 420 | 8 | 1st February 1912 | 29 | |
| Lithuania | 483, 515, 741 | 10 | 27th December 1918 | 38, 38a, 38b | |
| Luxembourg | 44 | 4 | 15th September 1852 | 9 | |
| Macedonia | 759 | 3 | 8th September 1992 | 63 | |
| Moldavia (Romania) | 73, 107 | 10 | 15th July 1858 | 15, 15a | |
| Moldova | 743, 749, 766 | 10 | 23rd June 1991 | 55, a-b | Montenegro | 174, 774a | 3 | 1874 | 23, 23a |
| Monaco | 231 | 6 | 1st July 1885 | 28 | |
| Mongolia | 547 | 10 | October 1924 | 46 | |
| Montenegro | 174, 774a | 3 | 1st May 1874 | 23 | |
| Netherlands | 34 | 4 | 1st January 1852 | 8 | |
| Norway | 52 | 11 | 1st January 1855 | 11 | |
| Poland | 88, 476 | 5 | 1st January 1860 | 16 | |
| Portugal | 46 | 9 | 1st July 1853 | 10 | |
| Romania | 121 749 | 3 | 1st July 1865 | 15b | |
| Russia | 69, 747 | 10 | 1st January 1858 | 14 | see also South Russia |
| San Marino | 189 | 8 | 1st August 1877 | 24 | |
| Serbia | 131, 774 | 3 | 1st July 1866 | 19 | incl. changes of admin |
| Siberia | 485 | 10 | 1919 | 40 | |
| Slovakia | 584, 761a | 5 | 1939 | 51, 51a | |
| Slovenia | 744 | 3 | 26th June 1991 | 56 | |
| Spain | 13 | 9 | 1st January 1850 | 4 | see Spanish colonies etc. |
| Sweden | 56 | 11 | 1st July 1855 | 12 | |
| Switzerland | 15 | 8 | 7th April 1850 | 5 | see Swiss Cantons |
| Tajikistan | 757 | 10 | 20th May 1992 | 62 | |
| Thrace | 439 | 3 | 1913 | 31 | |
| Trieste | 610, 612 | 3 | 1st October 1947 | 53, 53a | |
| Turkmenistan | 754 | 10 | 26th April 1992 | 60 | |
| Ukraine | 470, 481, 494, 750 | 10 | 18th July 1918 | 34, 34a | |
| Uzbekistan | 756 | 10 | 7th May 1992 | 61 | |
| Vatican City | 560 | 8 | 1st August 1929 | 48 | |
| Yugoslavia | 520, 755 | 3 | 16th January 1921 | 44 | |
top - Africa - Asia - Central and North America - Europe - Middle East - Oceania - South America - bottom
| Africa since independence (Gibbons Parts 12, 13 and 14) | |||||
| Country | ID | Previously | First Issue † | Sequence # | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Algeria | [545] |
French colony | 4th July 1962 |
28 |
|
| Angola | [160] |
Portuguese colony | 11th November 1975 |
42 |
|
| Benin | Dahomey (Fr col) | 1st March 1960 |
22 |
||
| Biafra | Nigeria | 1968 |
30a |
||
| Bophuthatswana | part of S. Africa | 6th December 1977 |
46 |
||
| Botswana | Bechuanaland | 30th September 1966 |
35 |
||
| Burkina Faso | Upper Volta | 21st November 1984 |
50 |
||
| Burundi | Ruanda-Urundi (Bel col) | 1st July 1962 |
26 |
||
| Cameroun | Ger / Fr / GB colony | 1st January 1960 |
20 |
||
| Cape Verde Is. | [187] |
Portuguese colony | 19th December 1975 |
43 |
|
| Central African Republic | Ubangi-Shari (Fr col) | 1st December 1959 |
17 |
||
| Chad | [529] |
French colony | 28th November 1959 |
14 |
|
| Ciskei | part of South Africa | 4th December 1981 |
49 |
||
| Comoros | [634] |
various Fr colonies | 21st July 1975 |
41 |
|
| Congo | Middle Congo (Fr col) | 28th November 1959 |
15 |
||
| Congo Democratic Republic | Belgian Congo, Zaire | 1997 |
24 |
||
| Djibouti | French colony | 27th June 1977 |
45 |
||
| Equatorial Guinea | various Sp colonies | 12th October 1968 |
37b |
||
| Eritrea | Italian colony |
22nd April 1993 |
52 |
||
| Ethiopia | - |
29th January 1895 |
2 |
||
| Gabon | [245] |
French colony | 28th November 1959 |
16 |
|
| Ghana | British colony | 6th March 1957 |
8 |
||
| Guinea | French colony | 5th January 1959 |
11 |
||
| Guinea-Bissau | Portuguese colony | 10th September 1974 |
38 |
||
| Ivory Coast | [286] |
French colony | 1st October 1959 |
12 |
|
| Kenya | British East Africa | 12th December 1963 |
31 |
||
| Lesotho | Basutoland | 4th October 1966 |
36 |
||
| Liberia | - |
1860 |
1 |
||
| Libya | [419] |
Italian colony | 24th December 1951 |
4 |
|
| Malagasy Republic | French colony | 10th December 1958 |
10, 10a |
||
| Malawi | Nyasaland Protectorate | 6th July 1964 |
32 |
||
| Mali | French Sudan | 7th November 1959 |
13 |
||
| Mauritania | [391] |
French West Africa | 20th January 1960 |
21 |
|
| Morocco | - |
20th April 1958 |
9 |
||
| Mozambique | [185] |
Portuguese colony | 25th June 1975 |
39 |
|
| Namibia | German colony, South West Africa | 21st March 1990 |
51 |
||
| Niger Republic | [523] |
French Sudan | 18th December 1959 |
19 |
|
| Nigeria | [447] |
British colony | 1st September 1963 |
30 |
|
| Rwanda | Ruanda-Urundi | 1st July 1962 |
27 |
||
| St Thomas & Prince | [152] |
Portuguese province | 12th July 1975 |
40 |
|
| Senegal | [249] |
French colony | 19th November 1960 |
25 |
|
| Somalia | Italian / GB colony | 25th June 1960 |
23 |
||
| South Africa | [413] |
various GB colonies | 4th November 1910 |
3 |
|
| Sudan | - |
15th September 1956 |
7 |
||
| Swaziland | - | 6th September 1968 |
37a |
||
| Tanzania | German East Africa | 7th July 1964 |
33a |
||
| Togo | Ger / Fr / GB colony | 2nd May 1955 |
5 |
||
| Transkei | South Africa | 26th October 1976 |
44 |
||
| Tunisia | [254] |
French protectorate | 15th October 1955 |
6 |
|
| Uganda | British colony | 9th October 1962 |
29 |
||
| Upper Volta | French colony | 10th December 1959 |
18 |
||
| Venda | South Africa | 13th September 1979 |
47 |
||
| Zaire | Belgian Congo | 30th June 1960 |
24b |
||
| Zambia | Northern Rhodesia | 24th October 1964 |
34 |
||
| Zimbabwe | Southern Rhodesia | 1980 |
48 |
||
† This is the date of the first issue in Gibbons' Africa since Independence and so not necessarily the first issue of that entity in another guise.
top - Africa - Asia - Central and North America - Europe - Middle East - Oceania - South America - bottom
| Central and North America | |||||
| Central America (Gibbons Part 15) | |||||
| Country | ID | Gibbons Pt. | First Issue | Sequence # | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belize | - | 1st June 1973 |
11 |
Formerly British Honduras. | |
| Costa Rica | 15↓ | March 1863 |
3 |
||
| Cuba, Republic | 30th September 1902 |
10 |
First listed as a Spanish colony. | ||
| Dominican Republic | 19th August 1865 |
4 |
|||
| El Salvador | 17th January 1867 |
6 |
|||
| Guatemala | 1st March 1871 |
7 |
|||
| Haiti | 1st July 1881 |
9 |
|||
| Honduras | 1st December 1865 |
5 |
|||
| Mexico | 1st August 1856 |
1 |
|||
| Nicaragua | 2nd December 1862 |
2 |
|||
| Panama | September 1878 |
8 |
|||
| North America (Gibbons Part 22) | |||||
| United States | 22 | 1st July 1847 |
1 |
see US Possessions etc. | |
| Canada | 1 | April 23, 1851 | 2 | see Dominion and Provinces | |
top - Africa - Asia - Central and North America - Europe - Middle East - Oceania - South America - bottom
| South America (Gibbons Pt. 20) | ||||
| Country | ID | First Issue | Sequence # | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 72, 105 | 1st May 1858 | 5, 5a | see Provincial issues |
| Bolivia | 140 | 1867 | 9 | |
| Brazil | 4 | 1st August 1843 | 1 | |
| Chile | 45 | 1st July 1853 | 2 | |
| Colombia | 84, 95, 104, 237 | 31st August 1859 | 7, a-c | see Colombian States |
| Ecuador | 120 | 1st January 1865 | 8 | |
| Guyana | 688 | 26th May 1966 | 12 | previously a British colony |
| Paraguay | 161 | 9th August 1870 | 10 | |
| Peru | 68 | 1st December 1857 | 4 | see Peru locals |
| [Scadta] | ||||
| Surinam | 714a | 25th November 1975 | 13 | previously a Dutch colony |
| Tierra Del Fuego | - | January 1891 | 11 | |
| Uruguay | 64, 82 | 1st October 1856 | 3, 3a | |
| Venezuela | 78 | 1st January 1859 | 6 | |
top - Africa - Asia - Central and North America - Europe - Middle East - Oceania - South America - bottom
| Asia (Gibbons Parts 16, 17, 18 and 21) | |||||
| Country | ID | Gibbons Pt. | First Issue | Sequence # | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afghanistan | 164, 267 | 16 | 1871 | 3, 3a | |
| Bangladesh | 703 | 29th July 1971 | 19 | ||
| Bhutan | 666 | 21 | April 1962 | 17 | |
| Cambodia | 637-8 | 21 | 3rd November 1951 | 15 | |
| China | 194, 627 | 17 | August 1878 | 5, 5a | |
| East Timor | 773 | 20th May 2002 | 23 | ||
| Hong Kong | - | 17 | 1997 | 22 | |
| India | 633 | 21 | 26th January 1950 | 13 | previously GB colony |
| Indonesia | 623, 632 | 21 | 15th December 1948 | 11, 11a | previously Netherland Indies |
| Iran | 143 | 16 | 1868 | 2 | |
| Japan | 166 | 18 | 20th April 1871 | 4 | |
| Korean Empire | 223 | 18 | 18th November 1884 | 8 | |
| South Korea | 606 | 18 | 1st February 1946 | 8a | |
| North Korea | 607 | 18 | 12th March 1946 | 8b | |
| Laos | 639 | 21 | 13th November 1951 | 16 | |
| Malaysia | 675 | 16th September 1963 | 18 | ||
| Myanmar | 739a | 21 | 1990 | 21 | previously Burma |
| Nepal | 208 | 21 | May 1881 | 6 | |
| Pakistan | 609 | 21 | 1st October 1947 | 10 | |
| Riau-Lingga Archipelago | 641 | 21 | 1st January 1954 | 11c | |
| Sri Lanka | 705 | 22nd May 1972 | 20 | previously Ceylon | |
| Taiwan | 630 | 17 | 1st January 1950 | 12 | Republic of China |
| Thailand | 215 | 21 | 4th August 1883 | 7 | |
| Tibet | 423 | 17 | December 1912 | 9 | |
| Turkey | 113, 501, 538 | 16 | 13th January 1863 | 1, a-b | |
| Vietnam | 635, 643 | 21 | 16th August 1951 | 14, 14a | previously Indo-China |
| West Irian (Irian Barat) | 671 | 1st May 1963 | 11d | ||
top - Africa - Asia - Central and North America - Europe - Middle East - Oceania - South America - bottom
| Middle East (Gibbons Part 19) | ||||
| Country | ID | First Issue | Sequence # | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abu Dhabi | 677 | 30th March 1964 | 19 | |
| Aden | [577] | 1st April 1937 | [11] | GB Col |
| - Kathiri s/o Seiyun | 594 | 1st July 1942 | 11a | |
| - Qu'aiti s/i Hadhramaut | 591 | July 1942 | 11b | |
| Ajman | 678 | 20th June 1964 | 20 | |
| - Manama | 689 | 5th July 1966 | 20a | |
| Bahrain | 569 | 10th August 1933 | 10 | |
| Cyprus | [205] | 16th August 1960 | 15 | GB Col |
| - Turkish Cyprus | 710 | 27th July 1974 | 15a | |
| Dubai | 673 | 15th June 1963 | 17 | |
| Egypt | 129 | 1st January 1866 | 1 | |
| Fujeira | 683 | 22nd September 1964 | 22 | |
| Gaza | - | 1st June 1948 | 3a | |
| Iran | - | - | - | see Asia |
| Iraq (Mesopotamia) | 465, 535 | 1st June 1923 | 7 | |
| Israel | 614 | 16th May 1948 | 13 | |
| Jordan | 516 | 1st November 1920 | 5 | |
| Kuwait | 534 | 1st April 1923 | 6 | |
| Lebanon | 543 | 1st January 1924 | 8 | |
| Libya | - | - | - | see Africa |
| Muscat | 601, 602 | 20th November 1944 | 12, 12a | |
| Oman | 687, 699 | 29th April 1966 | 24 | |
| Palestine | 468 | 10th February 1918 | 3 | |
| Palestinian Authority | 766a | September 1994 | 3b | |
| Qatar | 649 | 1st April 1957 | 14 | |
| Ras al Khaima | 685 | 21st December 1964 | 23 | |
| Saudi Arabia | 462, 550, 554, 571 | 20th August 1916 | 2, a-c | |
| Sharjah and Dependencies | 674 | 10th July 1963 | 18 | |
| South Arabia | - | 25th November 1963 | 11c | |
| Sudan | - | - | - | see Africa |
| Syria | 499 | 21st November 1919 | 4 | |
| Trucial States | 664 | 7th January 1961 | 16 | |
| Turkey | - | - | - | see Asia |
| Umm al Qiwain | 679 | 29th June 1964 | 21 | |
| United Arab Emirates (UAR) | 706 | August 1972 | 25 | |
| United Arab Republic | - | February 1958 | - | see Egypt and Syria |
| Yemen | 553 | 1926 | 9 | |
top - Africa - Asia - Central and North America - Europe - Middle East - Oceania - South America - bottom
| Category | |||||
| Country | ID | Gibbons Pt. | First Issue | Sequence # | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
top - Africa - Asia - Central and North America - Europe - Middle East - Oceania - South America - bottom
| Category | |||||
| Country | ID | Gibbons Pt. | First Issue | Sequence # | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
top - Africa - Asia - Central and North America - Europe - Middle East - Oceania - South America - bottom
Misc:
Pt2: UN Vienna
Pt8: UN Geneva
| Page created 25 Dec 2015 | Page updated 05-Sep-2022 |
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