You can collect stamps from all over the world, of course, so why not the stamps of Central Asia? It's a great way to discover aspects of national culture. First, there are national symbols: flags, Great Seals, and historic heroes. There are the nation's significant crops, native animals, and national leaders.
Another thing to note: sometimes stamps are issued for the collector's market, which is one reason why Kyrgyzstan issued Superman stamps.
Here is a one celebration of ethnicity, and one celebration of capability, from Kazakhstan:
Architecture of the Capital of Kyrgyzstan:
and a bilingual collector's page of Kyrgyzstan's heroes:
Tajikistan sometimes features notable Islamic scholars such as Abu Ali al-Husain ibn Abdallah ibn Sina (known to the West since Medieval times as Avicenna).
I was surprised that Turkmenistan had so much variety: frankly I expected all of the stamps to be Turkmenbashi stamps.
And I searched in vain for a Gulnara stamp. That's okay though.
Photos: Kazakhstan, Answers.com, Cira.colostate.edu; Kyrgyzstan, stamps.elcat.kg; Turkmenistan, Tajikistan, jeff560.tripod; Uzbekistan, Pomexport.com .
Thanks to all the stamp collectors who scanned these collectibles into the Internet.
