Monday, June 21, 2010

#331 Malaysia...Thanks Ronny!


These 4 Beaches and Islands stamps were issued in 2003 featuring Sipadan (Upper) and Ligitan (Lower) islands,both in Sabah,Malaysia.

Sipadan is the only oceanic island in Malaysia, rising 600 metres (2,000 ft) from the seabed. It is located in the Celebes Sea east of the major town of Tawau and off the coast of Sabah, East Malaysia on the island of Borneo. It was formed by living corals growing on top of an extinct volcanic cone that took thousands of years to develop. Sipadan is located at the heart of the Indo-Pacific basin, the centre of one of the richest marine habitats in the world. More than 3,000 species of fish and hundreds of coral species have been classified in this ecosystem. Sipadan has been rated by many dive journals as one of the top dive destinations in the world.

Ligitan is a small island off Tawau, east of Borneo, in the Celebes Sea.In the past, the island was at the centre of a territorial dispute between Malaysia and Indonesia. The matter was brought for adjudication before the International Court of Justice and, at the end of 2002, the Court awarded the island along with the island of Sipadan to Malaysia, on the basis of the "effective occupation" displayed by the latter's predecessor (Malaysia's former colonial power, Great Britain) and the absence of any other superior title.

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