TAAF: Cover from Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean - Glorioso Islands

The Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean consist of four small coral islands, an atoll, and a reef in the Indian Ocean, and have constituted the 5th district of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands (TAAF) since February 2007, though sovereignty over some or all of the Islands is contested by Madagascar, Mauritius, and the Comoros. None of the islands has ever had a permanent population.

This cover was sent from Glorioso Islands. It's a group of French islands and rocks totaling 5 square kilometers. The archipelago consists of two islands, Grande Glorieuse and Île du Lys, as well as eight rock islets. They form part of a coral reef and lagoon, and they have an Exclusive Economic Zone of 48,350 square kilometers.The islands are today nature reserves with a meteorological station garrisoned by The French Foreign Legion.


Thank you so much Eric!

French Southern and Antarctic Lands: Cover from Tromelin (Scattered Islands)

The Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean consist of four small coral islands, an atoll, and a reef in the Indian Ocean, and have constituted the 5th district of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands  since February 2007. This cover is sent from Tromelin Island, a low, flat island in the Indian Ocean about 500 kilometers north of Réunion and about 450 kilometers east of Madagascar. Tromelin has facilities for scientific expeditions and a weather station. It is a nesting site for birds and green sea turtles. This beautiful FDC dedicated to Tromelin was issued on 7.11.2019. You can also see machine cancellation added 2 months later by French Post. On the bottom of the cover is signature, possible by postmaster, I'm not sure.


Thank you so much, Axel!

Cover from French Southern and Antarctic Lands - St. Paul and Amsterdam islands

Amsterdam and Saint-Paul are subantarctic volcanic islands in the southern Indian Ocean, located approximately 80 km from each other. Among the most remote islands in the world, Amsterdam and Saint-Paul are more than 3,000 km from any continent, situated between Antarctica, Africa, and Australia. Amsterdam is an island of about 55 km2, with an extinct volcano reaching 911 m altitude. Saint-Paul is a much smaller island, only 7 km2, and reaching an altitude of 272 m. Together with the Crozel and Kerguelen archipelagoes and the Antarctic territory of Terre Adèlie, Saint-Paul and Amsterdam are part of the French Southern and Antarctic Territories, formed in 1955.

Stamps on cover:
First 3 stamps are from set Penguins, issued on 7.6.2018.
Last stamp is La Quille Rock, St Paul Island, issued on 2.1.2018.


Thank you so much, Eric!

Flags of the World Series: French Southern and Antarctic Lands - Kerguelen

The Kerguelen Islands, also known as the Desolation Islands, are a group of islands in the Antarctic constituting one of the two exposed parts of the Kerguelen Plateau, a large igneous province mostly submerged by the southern Indian Ocean. They are among the most isolated places on Earth, located 450 km northwest of the uninhabited Heard Island and McDonald Islands and more than 3,300 km from Madagascar, the nearest populated location (excluding the Alfred Faure scientific station in Île de la Possession, about 1,340 km from there, and the non-permanent station located in Île Amsterdam, 1,440 km mi away). The islands, along with Adélie Land, the Crozet Islands, Amsterdam and Saint Paul Islands, and France's Scattered Islands in the Indian Ocean, are part of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands and are administered as a separate district.

Stamps on card:
First two stamps are from set Logos of French South and Antarctic Territory, issued on 30.3.2016.
TAAF Flag (from set of five), issued on 1.1.2008.
Refuge in the Canyon of the Black-Browed Albatross - Kerguelen, issued on 2.1.2018.


Thank you Marie!

French Southern and Antarctic Lands: Cover from Crozet Islands

The Crozet Islands are a sub-antarctic archipelago of small islands in the southern Indian Ocean. They form one of the five administrative districts of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands. It consists of several small uninhabited islands of volcanic origin. Discovered by Captain Nicolas-Thomas Marion-Dufresne in 1772, the islands cover an area of 505 square km. Rising to 2,000 m on the Île de la Possession, they are rugged, with steep cliffs, and have been the scene of many shipwrecks. They have been designated a national conservation area.

Stamps on cover:
First 3 stamps are from set Penguins, issued on 7.6.2018.
Bigger, round stamp is Crozet Island Spider, issued on 2.1.2018.

There is also on back special cancellation and signature of post master!


Thank you so much Erik!

Flags of the World Series: French Southern and Antarctic Lands - Kerguelen

The French Southern and Antarctic Lands (French: Terres australes et antarctiques françaises, TAAF) is an overseas territory of France. The territory has no permanent civilian population. Those resident consist of visiting military personnel, officials, scientific researchers and support staff. This postcard arrived from The Kerguelen Islands, also known as the Desolation Islands, a group of islands in the Antarctic constituting one of the two exposed parts of the Kerguelen Plateau, a large igneous province mostly submerged by the southern Indian Ocean.

Two nice postmarks and two beautiful stamps from minisheet Tuna Fishing, issued on 2.1.2017.


Thank you Catherine!

French Southern and Antarctic Lands (T.A.A.F.): Terre Adélie

This is my first mail from French Territories in the Antarctic! Cover was traveling very long time, but it's finally here!

This is FDC François Tabuteau, 1921-2000, issued on 17.04.2015.

After his studies at the Collège de Clermont, he prepares the Naval Academy and then passes the tests of EOR (Reserve Officers Pupils) in Algiers in 1943, became an officer in the "Transat" and Master Mariner in 1948. Detached from Transat in July 1949, he participated in the first trip and the first two Charcot Antarctic expeditions of Paul Emile Victor in Terre Adélie in Port Martin in 1950 and 1951, as hydrographer, observer Astronomical and navigator.

After his return, he wrote in 1955 a novel Yaka, with preface by Paul Emile Victor, which tells the real life of a little dog Terre Adélie among a group of explorers in this polar universe.


Thank You very much Axel!

Stamps from French Southern and Antarctic Lands and France

I have received some nice mint stamps from France and my first stamps from French Territories in the Antarctic (Terres australes et antarctiques françaises, abbreviated TAAF)!

The French Southern and Antarctic Territories is a French overseas territory consisting of Adélie Land in coastal Antarctica and several islands in the southern Indian Ocean: the Crozet Islands, the Kerguelen Islands, Amsterdam Island and Île Saint-Paul. The territory was created on 6 August 1955, before which all were dependencies of Madagascar.

Stamps:
Logos of French South and Antarctic Territory, issued on 2015-03-19
Sea turtle, Logos of French South and Antarctic Territory, issued on 2015-03-19
Helicopter, Logos of French South and Antarctic Territory, issued on 2015-03-19

I have also received couple of French stamps:

National Monument of the Hartmannswillerkopf, issued on 2015-03-19
EUROPA 2015 - Old Toys, issued on 2015-06-22

Stamp on cover is The 70th Anniversary of the Mine Clearing Service, issued on 2015-02-20.


Thank You very much Axel!