COVER N.155 - MAURITIUS

Postmark: Illegible
Posted on the 6th July (?); received on the 19th August 2022
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And step by step, the list of countries grows. Mauritius, an insular state of the Indian Ocean, located to the  Northeast of the Island of the Reunion. composed of the Islands of Mauritius,  Rodrigues, Agaléga and St. Brandon, and also claiming sovereignty over the island of Tromelin, from France, and the Chagos Archipelago, from the UK.

A huge Thank you! to Marie Anne for letting me add another country to the Atlas!

Stamps, left to right:

Being an insular state it comes as no surprise that  Mauritius post on 09OCT2017 decided to issue a 4 stamp set in souvenir sheet form with 3, 4, 23 and 33 Mauritian Rupee denominations, dedicated to local sea shells.

The stamp on my cover, the 4 Rupee one, depicts a cowrie (Cypraea sp.). Cowries are famous for having been used as money and, I learned today, for being at the origin of the word porcelain, derived from the Italian “porcellana”, which was how Cowries were called in the idiom of Dante. 

ICAO, the International Civil Aviation Organization is a specialised agency of the United Nations established in 1947, whose creation was set forth  by the   Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation of 1944 and which was preceded by the its forerunner, PICAO, the Provisional International Civil Aviation Organization whose establishment was also established by the said Convention.

ICAO's mission is "To serve as the global forum of States for international civil aviation. ICAO develops policies and Standards, undertakes compliance audits, performs studies and analyses, provides assistance and builds aviation capacity through many other activities and the cooperation of its Member States and stakeholders".

Celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Organisation, Mauritius Post issued a 25 Rupee stamp on 07DEC2019. The stamp is illustrated by what I believe to be two photographs of  Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam International Airport, (named after the Republic’s first Prime Minister) the main Mauritian airport, one contemporary and the other probably at the time of independence, but this is just me guessing ....that or the smaller b&w picture might also be of the country's other airport, named Sir Gaëtan Duval Airport, located in Plaine Corail on the island of Rodrigues. (which, by the way, is named after the Portuguese explorer Diogo Rodrigues).

On the 22nd July 2021, the first Mauritian satellite was sent to orbit as part of the payload of  Mission: CRS-22/SpX-22 executed by a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket launched from he Kennedy Space Centre in Florida. Its mission was threefold: 1) Acquire satellite technology; 2) Collect pictures of the Republic of Mauritius and exclusive economic zone; 3) Experiment communication with regional islands (e.g emergency purposes such as cyclones and tsunamis).

To celebrate the event, Mauritius Post issued on the 07OCT2021 a 41 Rupee stamp with the image of the box shaped satellite orbiting the blue planet over Mauritius Island.