Skopje,Macedonia

Beautiful tag-card from Anja(Macedonia)

This card is showing Old Bazaar in Skopje,Macedonia.

Skopje is the largest city in Macedonia.The Old Bazaar in Skopje is one of the largest bazaars in the Balkans and the largest in Macedonia. Situated on the eastern bank of the Vardar River, the bazaar has been the city's centre for trade and commerce since at least the 12th century. It rapidly grew and reached its peak during Ottoman rule, evidenced by over 30 mosques, several caravanserais , and other Turkish buildings and monuments. Although Islamic architecture is predominant, there are several churches as well.

Today, the Old Bazaar falls within the borders of Čair Municipality.

Humpback whale

Brazil card from dear Macedonian postcrosser Ana:)Thank you ,Ana:) Another beautiful card to my growing collection.

The humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) is a baleen whale. One of the larger rorqual species, adults range in length from 12–16 metres (39–52 ft) and weigh approximately 36,000 kilograms (79,000 lb). The humpback has a distinctive body shape, with unusually long pectoral fins and a knobbly head. It is an acrobatic animal, often breaching and slapping the water. Males produce a complex whale song, which lasts for 10 to 20 minutes and is repeated for hours at a time. The purpose of the song is not yet clear, although it appears to have a role in mating.

Found in oceans and seas around the world, humpback whales typically migrate up to 25,000 kilometres each year. Humpbacks feed only in summer, in polar waters, and migrate to tropical or sub-tropical waters to breed and give birth in the winter. During the winter, humpbacks fast and live off their fat reserves. The species' diet consists mostly of krill and small fish. Humpbacks have a diverse repertoire of feeding methods, including the bubble net feeding technique.

Like other large whales, the humpback was and is a target for the whaling industry. Due to over-hunting, its population fell by an estimated 90% before a whaling moratorium was introduced in 1966. Stocks have since partially recovered; however, entanglement in fishing gear, collisions with ships, and noise pollution also remain concerns. There are at least 80,000 humpback whales worldwide. Once hunted to the brink of extinction, humpbacks are now sought by whale-watchers, particularly off parts of Australia, Canada, and the United States.

Magic Lights of Macedonia

This card is from Ana.It is showing Magic Lights of Macedonia( Skopje).And the mosque is The Mustafa Pasha Mosque.
Macedonia is a country in the central Balkan Peninsula in southeastern Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991. It was admitted to the United Nations in 1993 under the provisional reference of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, commonly abbreviated as FYROM.

A landlockeed country, the Republic of Macedonia is bordered by Serbia and Kosovo to the north, Bulgaria to the east, Greece to the south and Albania to the west. It comprises approximately the north-western third of the wider geographical region of Macedonia, which also covers a large part of northern Greece that is also called "Macedonia" and smaller parts of the other neighboring countries.

The country's capital is Skopje, with 506,926 inhabitants according to a 2004 census.

Macedonia is a member of the UN and the Council of Europe. Since December 2005 it has also been a candidate for joining the EU and has applied for NATO membership.