Queen Elizabeth II 1977 Silver Jubilee postage stamps

    Christmas Island, located in the Indian Ocean 223 miles south of Java Head, is a repository for massive quantities of phosphate. The majority of the island's inhabitants are Chinese and Malays who work the extensive phosphate deposits. This steep-cliffed, tropical island was discovered by Captain William Mynors of England's Royal Navy on Christmas Day, 1643, and thus named. The island was annexed by Great Britain in 1888. Seventy years later it passed over to Australian administration, and remains so to this day.

    This First Day Cover in honor of their Queen's Silver Jubilee was issued by Christmas Island on June 2, 1977.