2020-01-13 Mon

Karelia is an area in Northern Europe of historical significance for Finland, Russia, and Sweden. It is currently divided among the northwestern Russian Federation and Finland. Karelia was a republic of the Soviet Union. In 1921 it broke from Soviet Russia for a short period and began to issue stamps. The First stamps of Karelia were issued in the year 1921.

Karelia has appeared in philately several times; first as a breakaway republic from Soviet Russia in 1922, later when Eastern Karelia was occupied by Finland during the Continuation War of 1941 to 1944, and in the post-Soviet period when provisional stamps and cinderellas were issued. Additionally, there were Zemstvo stamps used in the early 20th century on the territory of the contemporary Republic of Karelia.

During the 1922 rebellion, the Karelians issued a set of 15 postage stamps, with values from 5 pennies to 25 markkas, all using the same design of a bear surmounted by the inscription "KARJALA". The lower values were printed in one color, while the 1-markka and up were bi-colored. They were only valid from 31 January to 16 February 1922. The stamp depicts the coat of arm of Karelia.

Image Courtesy: https://en.wikipedia.org

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