Flying Fish Cove, Christmas Island

Postcard

Christmas Island, a territory of Australia, is a dot in the Indian Ocean. Its closest neighbor is Java, 360 km away. The island has a population of about 2,000. It is called Christmas Island because it was discovered on Christmas Day in 1643.

Flying Fish Cove is the main settlement of Australia's Christmas Island. It was the first British settlement on the island, established in 1888. The island is famous for the annual red crab mass migration to the sea to spawn.

Stamps

Although Christmas Island was placed under Australian control in 1958, the island remained postally and philatelically independent until 1993 when Australia Post became the island's postal operator.

The island issued its own postage stamps from 1958. Those issued by Australia Post since 1993 are also valid in Australia, as are Australian stamps in Christmas Island.

(left) Christmas Island Fish - Cocos Angelfish, issued in 2013 as part of a set of four stamps.

(right)Christmas Island Christmas stamp: Merry Christmas Island, part of a set of two stamps issued 2013.

(bottom) Nature of Australia, Issue 2, Wetlands: the Saltwater Crocodile, issued in 1997.