Martinique

Martinique is an island in the West Indies southeast of Puerto Rico. It is a former French colony. In 1947 Martinique became a part of the Republic of France with the same status as a Department. The stamp was issued in 1947 as one of ten values of postage due stamps.
     At the north end of the island is the famous volcano, Mt. Pele, which eruped in 1902 killing 30,000 people.

Micronesia

In 1899 Germany bought the Caroline Islands from Spain. They were seized by Japan in 1914, and in 1947 they became part of the United States Trust Territory of the Pacific. The Islands began issuing their own stamps in 1984, and in 1986 Micronesia became “a Federation as a Sovereign State in Compact of Free Association with the United States.”
     The block of stamps commemorating the inauguration of postal service by the islands shows maps of the four major island complexes in the group of more than 600 islands.