Oman

Postcard showing a view of the Omani capital of Muscat. With archaeological dating as far back as 6,000 BC, the city has always been an important trading post between East and West. Controlled by a number of regional powers through its history, by the nineteenth century Muscat and Oman had itself become a regional power, spreading its control over much of the Persian Gulf, southern Arabia, and the east coast of Africa. The capital of Oman was even moved to Zanzibar, in modern-day Tanzania, at one point, but was moved back to Muscat following a split in the royal family in 1856.

Many thanks for this card to Yoann who was in Oman on holiday.

Sadly, the card was not sent from Oman but France and features the French permanent rate, self adhesive stamp. The hunt for a stamped card sent from Oman continues!

Grenada

Postcard of Bathway Beach in the Saint Patrick Parish of northeastern Grenada. The beach is a very popular spot to relax during holidays, when a carnival-like atmosphere reigns. The other days of the year, it's likely to be as you see here, very quiet.

Stamp featuring Tithorea pinthias, or cream-spotted tigerwing, an uncommon butterfly living in the forest lowlands of Central America.

Kyrgyzstan

Postcard showing decorated ceiling and mihrab showing the direction to Mecca in Usup Mosque in Osh, the second largest city and capital of the Kyrgyz South. Osh was an important stop on the Silk Route and is still home to the largest outdoor market in Central Asia. 

Many thanks to Guzel for helping cross this country off my list!

Stamp on the left features an Ilyushin Il-76, a popular plane in the 1970s and 1980s, developed in the Soviet Union for service to remote areas. Stamp on the right commemorates the 2002 United Nations International Year of Mountains, proclaimed to ensure the well-being of mountain and lowland communities by promoting the conservation and sustainable development of mountain regions.

Angola

Postcard showing Angolan children. Angola is certainly one of the harder countries to come by as it is often purported to not have a functioning postal system, mail should be sent by DHL, etcetera, but this one got here without any drama in less than two weeks! Many heartfelt thanks to Émilie for helping strike this tough cookie off the list.

Stamp from a 1994 set of four featuring traditional ceramics, in this case an earthenware water jug.

Latvia

Postcrossing postcard from the Latvian capital, Riga, home to more than one third of the country's population. Seen here is part of the Historic Centre of Riga World Heritage site with Riga Cathedral, built in 1211, Riga Castle, built in 1330, and Daugava River in the background.

Stamp on the left from definitive series municipal coats-of-arms, in this case Staicele near the border with Estonia. Stamp on the right commemorates the 500th anniversary of Cēsis Castle, once the most important castle in the Baltics as official residence for the head of the Livonian Order of crusading knights.

United States of America – New York IV

Postcard of Boldt Castle in the picturesque Thousand Islands region of the Saint Lawrence separating New York state from Ontario. The Castle was built by wealthy hotelier, George Boldt, at the start of the 1900s. The lavish contrustion was not to be outdone by it's boathouse on the island opposite, which has doors 20 metres high to allow his yachts to enter with mast standing.

Postcard sent from across the river in Canada. Previously featured stamp on the left of blue-flag irises from 2004 series on flowers and a 2006 stamp from a set of two featuring the Snowbirds, the Royal Canadian Air Force's air show flight demonstration team. Stamps were cancelled by hand instead of Canada Post's usual, unlovely dot matrix printer cancellation – a nice added bonus!

Finland

Postcard of mediaeval Häme Castle in Hämeenlinna, in south central Finland. The castle was built sometime in the thirteenth or fourteenth century during a period of warfare between Sweden and Russia although the exact construction dates are unknown. It is now a museum. Hämeenlinna is also the birthplace of famous Finnish composer Jean Sibelius.

Stamp representing the strong maritime tradition of Nordic nations.

Benin

Postcard of Ganvié village in southern Benin. The village is built on stilts over Lake Nokoué and was originally built this way because the religion of slave-traders in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries forbade their warriors from entering the water, thereby making the lagoon safe territory for other tribes. It is the largest stilt village in Africa and is on Benin's Tentative List for World Heritage.

Stamps featuring the white-throated guenon, Cercopithecus erythrogaster, an endangered primate that lives in rainforests and tropical areas of Benin and Nigeria.

Azerbaijan

Postcard showing Government House in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku. Construction began of the waterfront building in 1936 to house a number of ministries of the Azerbaijan SSR and was renovated in 2006 following the independence of Azerbaijan.

Stamp featuring the mediaeval fortifications of Shusha, a town in the disputed region of Nagorno-Karabakh in western Azerbaijan.

Canada – Quebec II

Postcard featuring Quebec City's famous Château Frontenac Hotel, built in 1893 as part of a series of "château" style hotels for the Canadian Pacific Railway company to promote luxury tourism by appealing to wealthy travellers. The hotel was host to the highly secret 1943 Quebec Conference held to coordinate strategy during World War II between the British, Canadian and United States governments, and was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1980.

Many thanks to Paul who was visiting.

Permanent rate self-adhesive stamps, on left from definitive series on baby animals, here the Arctic hare, Lepus arcticus, and on the right from the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and Paralympics.