Worldwide Collecting - Different Way Of Collecting Stamps

I would like to introduce new category of collecting stamps. In czech it's called "známkové zem#283;" and I would translate it like stamp's countries or maybe easily - geographilately.
I'm not sure if the translation is correct, but maybe you know the catalog Philatelist atlas by Mucha and Hlinka, which was translated into different languages.
So what is it all about? The main purpose is to have at least one stamp from each country, that has issued any stamps. It doesn't seem to be so hard, but there is more than 1500 countries (punctually 1539).
Let's make an example. If there is someone, who collects Canada, then they will agree with me, that there are many issues - Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island, British Columbia (and Vancouver), Vancouver, Newfoundland, Canada (British colony - till 1867) and Canada (dominion - since 1867 until today). So it means, that one current country means 8 "stamp countries".
This is more interesting in Africa, because there are many occupations and occupations of occupations :) and issues from tribes in South Africa such as Witu, Venda, Transvaal, Cape of Good Hope and many others.
For me this is the best "topical" of collecting stamps, because it combines all others. There are the oldest stamps together with the new ones, animals, ships, etc. with "heads" (bust - I have no idea what word do you use for this). It combines geography, history, current world and stamps.
And if you want, you can add some local issues from WW2 or from Columbia and Brazil and Russia and form other countries. It's just on you. There are no strict rules (maybe except the list of basic countries). All other informations you can find on the website geophila.com or maybe on http://www.postoveznamky.sk/znamkove_zeme.php .
I hope that you understood me, 'cause I'm not the native speaker. I hope that this article was at least quite interesting for you. I'm gonna scan one continent for you, so you can see, how it looks like when it's mostly complete. I hope that I can manage to do it in week. Looking forward to having an active discussion.

Hi Lubos, Looks like you will be starting an active discussion, from what I see here on SCF more collectors are starting to think "outside of the box" and away from the traditional albums..i admire the "cinderella" collectors who create individual collections and never mind "whats it worth?" Its worth very much to them !!

This is a really appealing way of collecting, I think.
We have had discussions on getting young people into stamp collecting. I think the more variety of ways there are to collect, the more people will be encouraged into the hobby. Its great to discuss these things on SCF and realise its "OK" to like what you like and collect whichever way you choose. (I just wish I could choose!!).
(Your English is excellent, by the way)

I have collected Czechoslovakia (first and second republic) traditionally. This way of collecting is much more exciting. It's easy to get all stamps from one country. This is much more fun. At the beginning your collection is growing rapidly, but to get the last 200 countries is really hard. I'm 20 by the way, so I'm the youngest member of our society (I mean collectors of stamp countries). :D

Are there any countries on the list whose stamps are so rare they are almost impossible to find?

In coin collecting, some collectors do this - it's called OFEC (One From Every Country).

I don't know much about it, but have read about it. Here's a link which talks about it:
http://www.australian-threepence.co...country.html

Does this list appear online? I looked at the two websites you mentioned, but didn't find a list. I think the list itself could generate some discussion.

Thanks for posting the links.

Some of them are really rare - eg. Basil (white dove), Zurich (also in Switzerland), Japanese occupation of Formosa and loads of Chinese provinces, Witu, Kabul, French occupation of Jerusalem and many others. Some of them are very expensive (more than 200 dollars), some of them just hard to get (China...). I've just finished Africa and it's worth more then 2000$, with mostly common stamps.

lubos, Is stampcollecting popular with school children and teenagers ? I am afraid they do not seem to have the patience for it here in the states !

In stamp collecting, this sometimes gets abbreviated as ASFE (A Stamp From Everywhere). Here is the website for a Lithuanian collector.

http://zenius.kalnieciai.lt/

Ryan

To Cjd: The whole list is not online, but I could upload mine on the web (I rewrote the whole list to ma computer). The only problem is, that it's in Czech. By the way the list is on the http://www.volny.cz/geophila/menu2_2_e.htm except Europe and Asia. These two continents were actualized last, so that's why it isn't online. If you want mine (of Europe and Asia) I can upload it, how I said.
To Philb: You might be true, that this isn't for children, but I started collecting this when I was 13. It depends on personality and parents, because it is possible to get over 500-700 of them without any special amount of money.

Thank you Ryan, I didn't know about this page. Thanks a lot

That sounds like a very fun way to get into WW collecting. I had a small world wide collection when I was a kid, might need to dig it out and see how far along I am.

Yeah, come on bluegrass. I've got some twice, so I could fill in your collection. :)

Watching from the Popcorn Gallery.

There is a list on the www.goephila.com website in English:
www.volny.cz/geophila/menu2_e.htm" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">http://www.volny.cz/geophila/menu2_e.htm

Broken down by continent and then geographical area within.
edit: ah, I see lubos already stated what I just stated also. Sorry. No Europe or Asia is correct.

Two main lists, one form the original Atlas mentioned and one from the Geophila Atlas.

Also has International Organizations, some of which I had never heard of or known were collected by themselves, like league of nations or Order of Malta.