The
Kionga Triangle
The Kionga Triangle (german: Kionga-Dreieck, pt, Triângulo de Quionga) was a small region of German East Africa situated at the mouth of the Ruvuma River. The Ruvuma served as the border between the German colony and Portuguese Mozambique, and ...
was a tiny territory on the border between
German East Africa
German East Africa (GEA; german: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mozam ...
(present-day
United Republic of Tanzania
Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...
) and the
Portuguese
Portuguese may refer to:
* anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal
** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods
** Portuguese language, a Romance language
*** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language
** Portu ...
colony
In modern parlance, a colony is a territory subject to a form of foreign rule. Though dominated by the foreign colonizers, colonies remain separate from the administration of the original country of the colonizers, the ''metropole, metropolit ...
of
Mozambique
Mozambique (), officially the Republic of Mozambique ( pt, Moçambique or , ; ny, Mozambiki; sw, Msumbiji; ts, Muzambhiki), is a country located in southeastern Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi ...
(present day Republic of Mozambique), originally German, but occupied by Portuguese forces in 1916. The triangle was the only German territory that the post-war
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles (french: Traité de Versailles; german: Versailler Vertrag, ) was the most important of the peace treaties of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June ...
awarded to Portugal.
On May 29, 1916, 100-reis
postage stamp
A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...
s from
Lourenço Marques
Maputo (), formerly named Lourenço Marques until 1976, is the capital, and largest city of Mozambique. Located near the southern end of the country, it is within of the borders with Eswatini and South Africa. The city has a population of 1,088 ...
were
overprint
An overprint is an additional layer of text or graphics added to the face of a postage or revenue stamp, postal stationery, banknote or ticket after it has been printed. Post offices most often use overprints for internal administrative pur ...
ed with "KIONGA" and one of the denominations ½c, 1c, 2½c, and 5c. These were the only stamps issued for Kionga. Most of the stock of the Marques stamps lacked gum, and in 2013, the
Scott Catalogue
The Scott catalogue of postage stamps, published by Scott Publishing Company, now a subsidiary of Amos Media, is updated annually and lists all the stamps of the world that its editors recognize as issued for postal purposes. It is published in f ...
listed the average purchase price of a high-quality set without gum at
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
97.50. Examples with original gum will command a premium.
See also
*
Postage stamps and postal history of Mozambique
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Mozambique.
First stamps
Stamps date from 1877, with the same key type design of the Portuguese crown as used elsewhere in the Portuguese territories. The original nine values were f ...
References
Bibliography
* Lamb, Robert E. "Kionga, A Mapmaker's Mistake?" ''The American Philatelist''. Vol. 105 No. 4 (April 1991), p. 327–329.
* Pearson, George R. "The Stamps and Postal History of Kionga (Quionga)." ''Portuguese Philatelic Society Bulletin''. No. 69 (Nov. 1979), p. 5-12.
*
External links
AskPhil – Glossary of Stamp Collecting Terms
Economy of German East Africa
Kionga
The Kionga Triangle (german: Kionga-Dreieck, pt, Triângulo de Quionga) was a small region of German East Africa situated at the mouth of the Ruvuma River. The Ruvuma served as the border between the German colony and Portuguese Mozambique, and ...
Philately of Portugal
Philately of Tanzania
Philately of Mozambique
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