Eastern Rumelia

Eastern Rumelia was once an autonomous part of the Ottoman Empire. It was what is now southern Bulgaria today.
 * In 1880, Eastern Rumelia overprinted Turkish stamps with a large blue R.O..
 * In 1881, a sideways curved blue ROUMELIE / ORIENTALE overprint was issued.
 * In 1881, a design based on then-current Turkish stamps was released, inscribed ROUMELIE ORIENTALE / ΑΝΑΤΟΛΙΚΗ ΡΩΜΥΛΙΑ / НСТОЧНА РУМЕЛІЯ. These exist perf 13½ and perf 11½. The 5 and 10pa values were issued in new colors in 1884, again in two different perfs.
 * In September 1885, Eastern Rumelia declared independence. A lion ("lion rampant") was handstamped in two major types. One type has 3 "fingers" on the outstretched "arm", the other with 4 "fingers" on that "arm".
 * Two framed handstamped types were also issued in two types, additionally inscribed ЮОЖНА / БЪЛГАРИЯ. One type has a wide Ю, the other has a narrow character.
 * By October, Eastern Rumelia was annexed by Bulgaria and began using Bulgarian stamps.

All stamps have been forged, with forgeries outnumbering genuine by a wide margin. See: Eastern Rumelia notes on forgeries.  File:E Rumelia 20pa.jpg|1881 20 para value. File:E Rumelia 10pa.jpg|1884 10pa value. File:E Rumelia 5pi B.jpg|1885 5pi framed overprint (unissued value). 

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