Wednesday, January 21, 2009

Switzerland (Helvetia) Issue for 2008 Beijing Olympic


(Thanks to Vural Oguz, for sending nice cover)
Helvetia is the Roman name for an ancient region of central Europe occupying a plateau between the Alps and the Jura Mountains. Helvetia corresponded roughly to the western part of modern Switzerland, and the name is still used poetically. Switzerland continues to use the name in its Latin form when it is inappropriate or inconvenient to use any or all of its four official languages. Thus, the name appears on postage stamps, coins and other uses; the full name, Confœderatio Helvetica, is abbreviated for uses such as the ccTLD, .ch.
Notably, translations of the term Helvetia still serve as the name for Switzerland in languages such as Irish, in which the country is known as An Elvéis, Greek, in which it is known as Ελβετία (Elvetia) and Romanian - Elveţia.

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