Transnistria, a.k.a Transdniestria or Trans-Dniestr, is a thin sliver of land on the eastern edge of Moldova that has declared its independence but is not recognized internationally. Transnistria has issued its own stamps since 1993 under its government under which the area is called the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic.
The first Transnistrian stamps, 1873
Before the modern stamps of the 1990s until today, there were two notable instances of postage stamps in Transnistrian stamps. The first was 1873, when the city of Tiraspol, then part of the Russian Empire, printed its own stamps — simple designs with Cyrillic inscriptions in white inside a blue circle around other text. More of these stamps were issued in 1879.
World War II occupied Transnistria stamps
The second Transnistrian stamps came in World War II, when the area was occupied by Romania. The occupiers issued stamps inscribed POSTA ROMANA (like their regular stamps) and TRANSNISTRIA in 1941 and 1943.
More: Posta Romana Stamps of Romania: Collecting Lei and Bani
Modern Pridnestrovian stamps, 1993 — present
During the fight for independence with Moldova in 1992, Transnistrian authorities overprinted Soviet stamps, but these were soon destroyed. The first new, modern Transnistrian stamps were issued in December 1993; although only used locally, many stamp collectors seek these out for their collections.
Transnistrian stamps use the Cyrillic alphabet and can be identified by the inscription ПОЧТА ПМР (pochta PMR, or PMR Post), which stands for Приднестровская Молдавская Республика, or Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic.
