Maldives - Traditional Hairstyle of A Local Woman

MALDIVES

Traditional Hairstyle of A Local Woman

Sent by myself during my vacation in Maldives (8-11th December 2024).

Photography by : Fathimath Sharuwary Moosa | sharuwary@gmail.com

Bicycle (35)

Sent by Minna, a postcrosser from Leppävirta, Finland.

Bicycle (30)

Antique tricycle in sunrise.

Sent by Svenja, a postcrosser from Herne, Germany.

Russia - Emperor Nicholas II

Emperor Nicholas II on the yacht Polar Star
Photo, 1900s

Sent by Anna, a postcrosser from St. Petersburg, Russia.

This is from Wikipedia : Nicholas II (Russian: Николай II, Николай Александрович Романов, tr. Nikolay II, Nikolay Alexandrovich Romanov; IPA: [nʲɪkɐˈlaj ftɐˈroj, nʲɪkɐˈlaj ɐlʲɪˈksandrəvʲɪtɕ rɐˈmanəf]; 18 May [O.S. 6 May] 1868 – 17 July 1918) was the last Emperor of Russia, Grand Duke of Finland, and titular King of Poland. His official short title was Nicholas II, Emperor and Autocrat of All the Russias and he is known as Saint Nicholas the Passion-Bearer by the Russian Orthodox Church. He has often been referred to as Saint Nicholas the Martyr.

Nicholas II ruled from 1894 until his abdication on 15 March 1917. His reign saw Imperial Russia go from being one of the foremostgreat powers of the world to economic and military collapse. Critics nicknamed him Bloody Nicholas because of the Khodynka Tragedy, Bloody Sunday, the anti-Semitic pogroms, his execution of political opponents, and his pursuit of military campaigns on a hitherto unprecedented scale.

Under his rule, Russia was defeated in the Russo-Japanese War, including the almost total annihilation of the Russian fleet at theBattle of Tsushima. As head of state, he approved the Russian mobilization of August 1914, which marked the beginning of Russia's involvement in World War I, a war in which 3.3 million Russians were killed. The Imperial Army's severe losses and the monarchy's incompetent handling of the war, along with other policies directed by Nicholas during his reign, are often cited as the leading causes of the fall of the Romanov dynasty.

Nicholas II abdicated following the February Revolution of 1917 during which he and his family were imprisoned first in the Alexander Palace at Tsarskoye Selo, then later in the Governor's Mansion in Tobolsk, and finally at the Ipatiev House in Yekaterinburg. Nicholas II, his wife, his son, his four daughters, the family's medical doctor, the Emperor's footman, the Empress' maidservant, and the family's cook were killed in the same room by the Bolsheviks on the night of 16/17 July 1918. This led to the canonization of Nicholas II, his wife the Empress Alexandra and their children as martyrs by various groups tied to the Russian Orthodox Church within Russia and, prominently, outside Russia.

Bicycles (23)

Sent by Allen, a postcrosser from Taiwan.

Bicycles (22)

Sent by Hiro, a postcrosser from Tokyo, Japan.

Short-Snouted Seahorse (Hippocampus brevirostris)

Short-Snouted Seahorse (Hippocampus brevirostris).

Sent by Olia, a postcrosser from Lithuania.

This is from Wikipedia :  The short-snouted seahorse, Hippocampus hippocampus, is a species of seahorse in the family Syngnathidae. It is endemic to the Mediterranean Sea and parts of the North Atlantic, particularly around Italy and the Canary Islands. Colonies of the species have recently been discovered in the River Thames around London and Southend-on-Sea.

Their preferred habitat is shallow muddy waters, estuaries or seagrass beds.

In the United Kingdom they are protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981.

Germany - Frankfurt (3)

The ruined city of Frankfurt in 1945 (after Second World War).

Sent by Yuen Man of Hong Kong who visited Franfurt.

Rwanda - Rwandan Boys

Our first postcard from Rwanda. It features Rwandan boys.

Sent by Linda from Rwanda. Terima kasih.

United Kingdom - England - Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites (2)

Stonehenge interior
Photographer : Not known
Taken : 1977

Sent by Dan, my best pal from Cheshire, England.

Latvia - Historic Centre of Riga (5)

Pils Iaukums (Castle Square) from Riga.

Sent by Dmitrij, a postcrosser from Latvia.

Belgium - Greetings From The Pajottenland

Greetings from The Pajottenland.

Sent by Maja, a postcrosser from Belgium.

This is from Wikipedia : The Pajottenland (in English occasionally Payottenland) is a part of the Flemish Brabant province west of the Brussels Capital Region. The Pajottenland is predominantly farmland, with occasional gently rolling hills. The area has historically provided food and drink for the citizens of Brussels, especially Lambic beers, which are only produced here and in the Senne valley where Brussels is located.

Finland - A Karesuvanto Woman

A Lapland woman in Karesuvanto.

Sent by Ana, a postcrosser from Finland.

This is from Wikipedia : Karesuvanto, also Kaaresuvanto, is a village in the Enontekiö municipality of the Lapland region in northern Finland, located on the Muonio River which forms the border with Sweden.

On the Swedish side of the river the village of Karesuando, part of the Kiruna municipality, is located. According to Finnish tradition they are considered one and the same locality (with pop. about 470) and both called Karesuvanto, though officially a national border is in between. Both sides are linked by a road bridge built in 1980. The area is traditionally Finnish and Sami speaking. After the Finnish War in 1809, the border was drawn for political reasons, not because of any cultural or linguistic reasons existing at that time. Later a cultural and language difference has grown because of school and church influence.

The village got its first buildings in 1670, when Måns Mårtensson Karesuando, called "Hyvä Maunu Martinpoika" in Finnish and "Good Maunu, Son of Martin" in English, bought land from Sami Henrik Nilsson Nikkas. The vicar and botanist Lars Levi Læstadius worked in Karesuando where he founded laestadianism movement named after him. In 1944 the area was burnt down by German troops during the Lapland War and had to be rebuilt afterwards.

Karesuando/Karesuvanto is the northernmost point on the major European route E45 to Gela and a stop on the European route E8 from Tromsø to Turku.

Poland - Szczecin

Szczecin before WWII.

Sent by Radoslav, a postcrosser from Poland.

This is from Wikipedia : Szczecin ([ˈʂt​͡ʂɛt​͡ɕin]; German: Stettin [ʃtɛˈtɪːn]; Kashubian: Sztetëno [ʂtɛˈtənɔ]), is the capital city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in Poland. It is the country's seventh-largest city and the largest seaport in Poland on the Baltic Sea. As of June 2009 the population was 406,427.

Szczecin is located on the Oder River, south of the Szczecin Lagoon and the Bay of Pomerania. The city is situated along the southwestern shore of Dąbie Lake, on both sides of the Oder and on several large islands between the western and eastern branches of the river. Szczecin borders with the town of Police, the seat of Police County, situated on an estuary of the Oder River.

The city's beginnings were as an 8th century Slavic Pomeranian stronghold. Over the course of its history it has been a part of Poland, existed as an independent Duchy, was ruled by Sweden, Denmark, Brandenburg-Prussia, was part of the Holy Roman Empire, German Empire, Weimar Republic and the Third Reich. It was the residence of the Griffin Dynasty from the 12th until the 17th century.

While the city was ruled by Nazi Germany the Jews, Poles and Rroma were subjected to repression and finally during World War II classified as untermenschen with their fate being slavery and extermination. After Germany was defeated by the Allies in 1945, Szczecin was awarded to the People's Republic of Poland. The city was emptied of its German inhabitants, who either fled before the advancing Soviet Army or were expelled by the Polish government. Poles resettled and rebuilt the war damaged city, which became capital of the new Szczecin Voivodeship. It played an important role in the anti-communist uprisings of 1970 and the rise of Solidarity trade union in the 1980s.

China - Gang Of One

Wang Gang Feng/GANG OF ONE
Super Location, Shanghai
The People's Republic of China.

Sent by Chen Yi from China.

Ukraine - National Costume

Girls in national costumes. 1902. Pidvarky, Kyiv Province.

Sent by Sveta, a postcrosser from Kyiv, Ukraine.

Poland - Fontanna Neptuna

Fontanna Neptuna or Neptune's Fountain in Gdańsk.

Sent by Magdalena, a postcrosser from Gdańsk in Poland.

"Neptune's Fountain, in the center of Dlugi Targ (the Long Market) has grown to be one of Gdansk's most recognizable symbols. The bronze statue of the Roman god of the sea was first erected in 1549, before being aptly made into a fountain in 1633. Like the city he represents, Neptune has had a storied history, himself - dismantled and hidden during World War II, old Neptune didn't come out of hiding until 1954 when he was restored to his rightful place in the heart of the city, reminding us of Gdansk's relationship to the sea. Chances are you've already had your photo taken with this mighty trident-wielding behemoth, or will soon. The colourful buildings of Dlugi Targ make a great backdrop for any photo-op, so flash those gums and say 'cheese!"(Source)

Malaysia - Johor - Pasar Besar Sungai Segget

Pasar Besar Sungai Segget.

Sent by Aameea from Johor Bahru, Johor.

China - Ancient Dwelling Houses of China

Hong Village in Anhui, China.

Sent by Ku, a postcrosser from Taiwan.

Taiwan - Aboriginal Peoples of Taiwan

Aboriginal Peoples of Taiwan.

Sent by Apple, a postcrosser from Taiwan.

This is from Wikipedia : Taiwanese aborigines (Chinese: 原住民; pinyin: yuánzhùmín; Wade–Giles: yüan2-chu4-min2; Pe̍h-ōe-jī: gôan-chū-bîn; literally "original inhabitants") is the term commonly applied in reference to the indigenous peoples of Taiwan. Although Taiwanese indigenous groups hold a variety of creation stories, recent research suggests their ancestors may have been living on the islands for approximately 8,000 years before major Han Chinese immigration began in the 17th century (Blust 1999). Taiwanese aborigines are Austronesian peoples, with linguistic and genetic ties to other Austronesian ethnic groups, such as peoples of the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Madagascar and Oceania (Hill et al. 2007; Bird, Hope & Taylor 2004). The issue of an ethnic identity unconnected to the Asian mainland has become one thread in the discourse regarding the political status of Taiwan.

For centuries, Taiwan's aboriginal peoples experienced economic competition and military conflict with a series of colonizing peoples. Centralized government policies designed to foster language shift and cultural assimilation, as well as continued contact with the colonizers through trade, intermarriage and other dispassionate intercultural processes, have resulted in varying degrees of language death and loss of original cultural identity. For example, of the approximately 26 known languages of the Taiwanese aborigines (collectively referred to as the Formosan languages), at least ten are extinct, five are moribund (Zeitoun & Yu 2005:167) and several are to some degree endangered. These languages are of unique historical significance, since most historical linguists consider Taiwan to be the original homeland of the Austronesian language family (Blust 1999).

Taiwan's Austronesian speakers were formerly distributed over much of the island's rugged central mountain range and were concentrated in villages along the alluvial plains. As of 2009, their total population is around 499,500 (approximately 2 percent of Taiwan's population). The bulk of contemporary Taiwanese aborigines live in the mountains and cities.

The indigenous peoples of Taiwan face economic and social barriers, including a high unemployment rate and substandard education. Many aboriginal groups have been actively seeking a higher degree of political self-determination and economic development since the early 1980s (Hsu 1991:95–9). A revival of ethnic pride is expressed in many ways by aborigines, including incorporating elements of their culture into commercially successful pop music. Efforts are underway in indigenous communities to revive traditional cultural practices and preserve their traditional languages. Several aboriginal tribes are becoming extensively involved in the tourism and ecotourism industries to achieve increased economic self-reliance from the state (Anderson 2000:283–90).