#587 Indonesia...Thanks Juris!

#527 Indonesia...Thanks Nella!

These two stamps are from 200 Years of the Great Post Road issued in 2008.

The Great Post Road is the road stretched from west to east at northern part of Java from Anyer to Panarukan along 1,000km. Initiated by Governor-General Herman Willem Daendels, this road is passing through Serang, Tangerang, Jakarta, Bogor, Sukabumi, Cianjur, Bandung, Sumedang, Cirebon, Brebes, Tegal Pemalang, Pekalongan, Kendal, Semarang, Demak, Kudus, Rembang, Tuban, Gresik, Surabaya, Sidoarjo, Pasuruan, Probolinggo dan Situbondo.

Daendels was a marshal appointed as governor general of East Indies by Lodewijk Napoleon who ruling Holland at that time. The ultimate aim was handling military preparation in anticipating British Navy attack that had blockaded Java Island. Daendels landed in Anyer in 1808 after routing a long trip from Cadiz in southern Spain, Canary Islands and then departing from New York using American vessel.

Daendels's most important military project in defending Java from British attack was constructing a highway connecting west and east corner of this island. The road was built by means of obliging indigenous rulers to mobilize people along the route to work it by force. This road had sacrificed thousands life in nearly a year of its building process. Later, the road was renowned as the Great Post Road (De Groote Postweg) since Daendels also set off post and telegraph services at the moment of the making.

Since its operation in 1809, the road formerly intended for military purpose had become a main transportation infrastructure in Java Island. This highway had witnessed traffice of commodities conveyed over it since colonial era till now. The road has played an important role as one of crucial veins of Indonesian economy today.

#318 Indonesia...Thanks Irene!

This complete set of 4 stamps was issued to celebrate the upcoming 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be the 19th FIFA World Cup, the premier international football tournament. It is scheduled to take place between 11 June and 11 July 2010 in South Africa. The 2010 FIFA World Cup will be the culmination of a qualification process that began in August 2007 and involved 204 of the 208 FIFA national teams. As such, it matches the 2008 Summer Olympics as the sports event with the most competing nations.

This will be the first time that the tournament has been hosted by an African nation, after South Africa defeated Morocco and Egypt in an all-African bidding process. This decision left the Oceania Football Confederation as the only confederation yet to host the FIFA World Cup. Italy are the defending champions, after winning the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany.

#231 Indonesia...Thanks Imam!

This nice 2008 Provincial Fauna & Flora FDC features Bali Starling (Leucopsar rothschildi),also known as Rothschild’s Mynah, Bali Myna or Bali Mynah,which is a medium-sized (up to 25 cm long), stocky myna, almost wholly white with a long, drooping crest, and black tips on the wings and tail. The bird has blue bare skin around the eyes, greyish legs and a yellow bill. Both sexes are similar.

The Bali Starling is distributed and endemic to the island of Bali in Indonesia, where it is the island's only surviving endemic vertebrate species. This rare bird was discovered in 1910 and was designated the fauna symbol of Bali.

The Bali Starling is critically endangered, hovering immediately above extinction in the wild for several years now (BirdLife International 2006). The last stronghold of the species is at West Bali National Park; about 1,000 individuals are believed to be held in captivity legally. In fact, the Bali Starling is so much in danger that that national park has been set up just for the Bali Starling's survival. The wild population was at an all-time low of just 6 birds in 2001, after the late-1990s wild population of 3-4 dozen was reduced by poachers for the illegal pet trade.

Its decline towards extinction has been caused by the urbanization of the island and by illegal trapping for the caged-bird trade; indeed, the number of captive birds bought on black market is estimated to be twice the number of legally-acquired individuals in the captive breeding program. Trade even in captive-bred specimens is strictly regulated and the species is not generally available legally to private individuals. However, experienced aviculturalists may become affiliated with the captive-breeding program, allowing them to legally keep this species.

#216 Indonesia...Thanks Penny!

This FDC was issued in 2008 in memory of 100 years of the death of Indonesia's National Heroine Cut Nyak Dhien (1848-1908) who struggled against Dutch ruler and died as prisoner in her exile at Sumedang,West Java.

#215 Indonesia...Thanks Penny!

This " Small Outermost Islands" FDC was issued in 2008 featuring 4 islands,namely Damar ,Sebatik,Batubawaikang and Bras.

The Republic of Indonesia is an archipelagic state consisting of not less than 17,508 big and small islands spread 5,110 km long and 1,888 km wide. Geographically,Indonesia is located at strategic position between Asia and Australia Continents as well as Indian and Pacific Oceans.

Indonesia has 92 small outermost islands bordering on 10 neighbor states.

#201 Indonesia...Thanks Irene!

#088 Indonesia...Thanks Imam!

This fantastic FDC was issued in June,2009 celebrating the inauguration of Suramadu Bridge.

The Suramadu Bridge is a bridge with three cable-stayed sections constructed between Surabaya on the island of Java and the town of Bangkalan on the island of Madura in Indonesia. The 5.4-km bridge is the longest in Indonesia and the first bridge to cross the Madura Strait.

The bridge was built by a consortium including China Road and Bridge Corp. and China Harbor Engineering Co. Ltd.

On the back is Indonesia International Year of Astronomy 2009 miniature sheet.

The International Year of Astronomy (IYA2009) was a year-long celebration of astronomy, which took place in 2009 to coincide with the 400th anniversary of the first recorded astronomical observations with a telescope by Galileo Galilei and the publication of Johannes Kepler's Astronomia nova in the 17th century.

In 1609, Galileo Galilei first turned one of his telescopes to the night sky and made astounding discoveries that changed mankind’s conception of the world forever: mountains and craters on the Moon, a plethora of stars invisible to the naked eye, and moons around Jupiter.Astronomical observatories around the world promised to reveal how planets and stars are formed, how galaxies assemble and evolve, and what the structure and shape of our Universe actually are. In the same year, Johannes Kepler published his work Astronomia nova—in which he described the fundamental laws of planetary motions.

On 25th September 1608, Hans Lippershey, a young man from Middleburg, travelled to the Hague, the then capital of the Netherlands, to demonstrate one of his inventions to the Dutch government - the telescope. Although Hans was not awarded the patent, Galileo heard of this story and decided to use the "Dutch perspective glass" and point it towards the heavens.

#063 Indonesia...Thanks Vania!

This nice mini-sheet of Indonesia shows 2 new species found in Papua:a palm tree (Licuala arbuscula) and a Golden-fronted Bowerbird (Amblyornis flavifrons).