Made In Canarias Postcrossing Blog

New South Wales ( NSW ), Australia's most populous state, is located in the south-east of the country and encompasses the whole of the Australian Capital Territory. The colony of New South Wales was founded in 1788 and originally comprised much of the Australian mainland, as well as Van Diemen's Land, Lord Howe Island and Norfolk Island in addition to the area currently referred to as the state of New South Wales, which was formed during Federation in 1901. Inhabitants of New South Wales are referred to as New South Welsh or New South Welshmen . New South Wales's largest city and capital is Sydney. ( source ) Thank you Myella!

The Presidential Office Building houses the Office of the President of the Republic of China (Taiwan). The building, located in the Zhongzheng District in the national capital of Taipei,  Republic of China (Taiwan), was designed by architect Uheiji Nagano during the period of Japanese rule of Taiwan (1895-1945). The structure originally housed the Office of the Governor-General of Taiwan. Damaged in Allied bombing during World War II, the building was restored after the war by Chen Yi, the Governor-General of the Taiwan province. It became the Presidential Office in 1950 after the Republic of China lost control of mainland China and relocated the nation's capital to Taipei City at the end of the Chinese Civil War. ( source ) Thank you Ping!

Vatican City , officially Stato della Città del Vaticano , which translates literally as "State of the City of the Vatican", is a landlocked sovereign city-state whose territory consists of a walled enclave within the city of Rome, the capital city of Italy. It has an area of approximately 44 hectares, and a population of just over 800. Vatican City was established in 1929 by the Lateran Treaty, signed by Cardinal Secretary of State Pietro Gasparri, on behalf of the Holy See and by Prime Minister Benito Mussolini on behalf of the Kingdom of Italy. Vatican City is ruled by the Bishop of Rome—the Pope. The highest state functionaries are all Catholic clergymen of various national origins. The Popes have generally resided in the area that in 1929 became Vatican City since the return from Avignon in 1377, but have also at times resided in the Quirinal Palace in Rome and elsewhere. ( source ) I sent this card to myself when I visited Vatican City on 19th of September 2010. ...

Falkensee is a town in the Havelland district, Brandenburg, Germany. It is the most populated municipality of its district and it is situated at the western border of Berlin. During World War II, the Demag Panzerwerke subcamp of the Sachsenhausen concentration camp was located here. At its height, 2,500 people were imprisoned in the camp and used as slave labour.The municipality shared its borders with the former West Berlin, and so during the period 1961-1990 it was separed from it by the Berlin Wall. ( source ) Thank you Helmyne!

The Fraser Canyon is a stretch of the Fraser River where it descends rapidly through narrow rock gorges in the Coast Mountains en route from the Interior Plateau of British Columbia to the Fraser Valley. The Fraser Canyon Highway Tunnels were constructed from the spring of 1957 to 1963 as part of the Trans-Canada Highway project. There are seven tunnels in total, the shortest being about 57 metres; the longest, however, is about 610 metres and is one of North America's longest. They are situated between Yale and Boston Bar. ( source )   Thank you Oliversmom!

Emperor Alexander III with his wife Maria Feodorovna and children. Thank you Agatha!

Thank you Maggie!

Thank you Katja!

Washington is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. Washington was named after George Washington, the first President of the United States, and is the only U.S. state named after a president. It is commonly called Washington State or occasionally the State of Washington to distinguish it from the U.S. capital The United States Census Bureau estimated the state's population was 6,664,195 in 2009. Nearly 60% of Washington's residents live in the Seattle metropolitan area, the center of transportation, business, and industry, and home to an internationally known arts community. The remainder of the state consists of deep rain forests in the west, mountain ranges in the center, northeast and far southeast, and eastern semi-deserts given over to intensive agriculture. ( source ) Thank you Whitney!

Oklahoma is a state located in the South Central region of the United States of America. With an estimated 3,687,050 residents in 2009 and a land area of 177,847 km², Oklahoma is the 28th most populous and 20th-largest state. The state's name is derived from the Choctaw words okla and humma , meaning "red people", and is known informally by its nickname, The Sooner State. Its residents are known as Oklahomans , and its capital and largest city is Oklahoma City. ( source ) Thank you Veeder!

Thank you Heidi!

The Soca Valley is located along Slovenia’s border with Italy, which includes the river Soca and all of its tributaries, from this source it then flows into and through the Nova Gorica flatlands. The Soca's distinctive turquoise hue flows for around 100 km against a backdrop of high limestone mountains, covered in dense alpine forests and lush meadows peppered with an abundance of wildflowers. The eastern border of the valley runs across the high peaks of the beautiful and stunning Julian Alps mountain range which separate it from neighboring Bohinj. Large amounts of the region are part of the protected Triglavski Narodni Park (Triglav National Park). ( source ) Thank you Klemen!

Qingdao is a major city in eastern Shandong province, People's Republic of China. Lying across the Shandong Peninsula while looking out to the Yellow Sea, Qingdao today is a major seaport, naval base, and industrial center. It is also the site of the Tsingtao Brewery. Qingdao is administratively at the sub-provincial level. In 2008, Qingdao was named China's 7th-most livable city. ( source ) Thank you Christina!

Luxembourg is a landlocked country in western Europe. The city of Luxembourg, the capital and largest city, is the seat of several institutions and agencies of the European Union. It has a population of over half a million people in an area of approximately 2,586 sq km. Luxembourg is a parliamentary representative democracy with a constitutional monarch; it is ruled by a Grand Duke. It is the world's only remaining sovereign Grand Duchy. The country has a highly developed economy. Luxembourg lies on the cultural divide between Romance Europe and Germanic Europe, borrowing customs from each of the distinct traditions. Luxembourg is a trilingual country; German, French and Luxembourgish are official languages. Although a secular state, Luxembourg is predominantly Roman Catholic. ( source ) Thank you Diane!

Thank you Maini!

Lake Skadar , also called Lake Scutari and Lake Shkodër is a lake on the border of Montenegro with Albania, the largest lake in the Balkan Peninsula. It is named after the city of Shkodra in northern Albania. Its surface, 6 m above sea level, can vary between 370 km 2 and 530 km 2 , of which 2/3 is in Montenegro. The lake is a cryptodepression, filled by the river Morača and drained into the Adriatic by the 41 km long Bojana, which forms the international border on the lower half of its length. ( source ) Thank you Sofija!

Boa Vista (“good view”) is the easternmost island of Cape Verde. The island is known for marine turtles and traditional music, as well as its ultramarathon and its sand dunes and beaches. With an area of 620 km², it is the third largest island, after Santo Antão and Santiago. It is 455 km west of the coast of Africa. Much of the island is flat. The highest point on the island is Monte Estância, elevation 387 m. Its main town is Sal Rei, its ferry port and home to Boa Vista's airport on the northwest side of the island. It has the smallest population of all of inhabited Cape Verde’s islands, and it is the least-dense. Its economy was originally based on agriculture, but desertification led to salt collection becoming more important. Its main industries today are date farming and, increasingly, tourism, with already several touristic establishments being built in recent times. (source) Thank you Gilles!

A colourful view of Waikiki Beach, with it’s beautiful waters and coastline. Thank you Helen!

New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses (the North Island and the South Island), and numerous smaller islands. The indigenous Māori language name for New Zealand is Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud . Elizabeth II, as the Queen of New Zealand, is the country's head of state and is represented by a Governor-General, and executive political power is exercised by the Cabinet of New Zealand. New Zealand is notable for its geographic isolation. During its long isolation New Zealand developed a distinctive fauna dominated by birds, a number of which became extinct after the arrival of humans and the mammals they introduced. New Zealand is a developed country that ranks highly in international comparisons on many topics, including education, economic freedom, and lack of corruption. Its cities also consistently rank among the world's most liveable. ( source ) Thank you Danielle!

Costa Rica   officially the Republic of Costa Rica is a country in Central America, bordered by Nicaragua to the north, Panama to the east and south, the Pacific Ocean to the west and south and the Caribbean Sea to the east. Costa Rica, which means "Rich Coast", constitutionally abolished its army permanently in 1949, thus becoming militarily neutral. It is the only Latin American country included in the list of the world’s 22 older democracies. Costa Rica has consistently been among the top Latin American countries in terms of the Human Development Index, and ranked 54th in the world in 2007. The country is ranked 3rd in the world, and 1st among the Americas, in terms of the 2010 Environmental Performance Index. In 2007 the Costa Rican government announced plans for Costa Rica to become the first carbon neutral country by 2021. According to the New Economics Foundation, Costa Rica ranks first in the Happy Planet Index and is the "greenest" country in the wo...

Latvia is a country in the Baltic region of Northern Europe. The territory of Latvia covers 64,589 km 2 and it has a temperate seasonal climate. The modern name of Latvia is thought to originate from the ancient Latvian name Latvji , which, like the name of Lithuania, may have originated from the river named Latuva. Latvia is a unitary parliamentary republic and is divided into 118 municipalities. The capital and largest city is Riga. With a population of 2.23 million Latvia is one of the least-populous members of the European Union. ( source ) Thank you Zane!

Minnesota is a U.S. state located in the Midwestern United States. The twelfth largest state of the U.S., it is the twenty-first most populous, with 5.27 million residents. Known as the "Land of 10,000 Lakes", the state's name comes from a Dakota word for "sky-tinted water".  Nearly sixty percent of Minnesota's residents live in the Minneapolis-Saint Paul metropolitan area known as the "Twin Cities", the center of transportation, business and industry, education and home to an internationally known arts community. The remainder of the state consists of western prairies now given over to intensive agriculture; deciduous forests in the southeast, now cleared, farmed and settled; and the less populated North Woods, used for mining, forestry, and recreation. Minnesota ranks among the healthiest states, and has a highly literate population. ( source ) Thank you Chiri!

Colorado is a U.S. state. The origins of Colorado's name come from the Spanish language, when the Spanish first called the area "Colorado" because of its red colored earth. In 1861, Jefferson Territorial officials decided that "Colorado" would be a good name for the territory. Colorado is nicknamed the "Centennial State" because it was admitted to the Union as the 38th state in 1876, the centennial year of the United States Declaration of Independence. Colorado is noted for its vivid landscape of mountains, plains, mesas, and canyons. The 30 highest major summits of the Rocky Mountains of North America all lie within the state. The state population was 5,024,748 on 2009. Denver is the capital and the most populous city of Colorado. Residents of the state are properly known as "Coloradans", although the archaic term "Coloradoan" is still used. ( source ) Thank you Giselle!

Thank you Whitney!

Dublin is the primate and capital city of Ireland. It is officially known in Irish as Baile Átha Cliath or Áth Cliath . The English name comes from the Irish Dubh Linn meaning "black pool". It is located near the midpoint of Ireland's east coast, at the mouth of the River Liffey and at the centre of the Dublin Region. Originally founded as a Viking settlement, it evolved into the Kingdom of Dublin and became the island's primary city following the Norman invasion. Today, it is ranked 23rd in the Global Financial Centres Index, has one of the fastest growing populations of any European capital city, and is listed by the GaWC as a global city with a ranking of Alpha, placing Dublin among the top 25 cities in the world. Dublin is a historical and contemporary cultural centre for the island of Ireland as well as a modern centre of education, the arts, administrative function, economy and industry. ( source ) Thank you Claudia!