Rankings as at 1st of May 2015

Millions are becoming more common these days. In this year we have surpassed the 28, 29 millions and now its time for 30 million landmark. End of this month we would probably do that given that more than half million postcards get registered everything month. Comparisons today are between 1st March and 5th April. First 20 ranks remain unchanged. But Brazil which was 21st 2 months ago now in 23 losing two positions. Singapore and India now in 30th and 32nd positions while Brazil and Thailand losing one position each losing for the above mentioned. My country Sri Lanka has narrowed the gap so that it could possibly beat Bosnia and Herzegovina and Uzbekistan in coming months. Taiwan recruited 1775 members and Russia has recruited about 1611 members. Have you ever wondered about postcrossers density in each country. Finland has 3.31 postcrossers for every 1000 inhabitants while Lithuania, Taiwan, Belarus and Netherlands have more than 2 postcrossers for every 1000. Therefore you are likely to meet a postcrosser there than in any other country. In Luxembourg  average postcards sent by a member is 130 and for Finland it is almost 129.

Another Few Interesting Details Russia has a percentage of about 12% of total members. Taiwan postcrossers are almost amounts to 10% of total postcrossers. No country has sent 4 millions postcards and Germany is on course first to reach and will reach the landmark probably in the end of July. Let us hope that Ukraine Crisis will end up soon. In past two months net turnover of Ukraine is -144.

Code	Country name	Members	Postcards Sent	Rank As at Today	Poscards Change	Members Change
DE	GermanyGermany	41289	3845792	1	175037	661
RU	RussiaRussia	65111	3093361	2	168164	1611
US	United States of AmericaUnited States of America	52896	3011184	3	100275	511
NL	NetherlandsNetherlands	34652	2768655	4	82346	335
FI	FinlandFinland	17332	2235603	5	48727	123
BY	BelarusBelarus	22418	1416339	6	55352	293
CN	ChinaChina	51255	1327542	7	50767	1274
TW	TaiwanTaiwan (*)	54824	1318940	8	54856	1775
UA	UkraineUkraine	22753	1087051	9	25028	-144
PL	PolandPoland	26500	879824	10	26222	304
JP	JapanJapan	7257	615071	11	23867	198
GB	United KingdomUnited Kingdom	11449	587751	12	18783	241
CZ	Czech RepublicCzech Republic	11742	567767	13	32334	344
CA	CanadaCanada	7879	477288	14	16179	75
FR	FranceFrance	8897	462169	15	24190	764
LT	LithuaniaLithuania	7060	384857	16	11048	193
AU	AustraliaAustralia	5620	383884	17	11228	98
PT	PortugalPortugal	5942	360652	18	9413	79
BE	BelgiumBelgium	3903	333408	19	12900	49
ES	SpainSpain	4691	314779	20	9377	61
HK	Hong KongHong Kong (*)	7370	289977	21	15523	201
IT	ItalyItaly	2795	288432	22	7604	43
BR	BrazilBrazil	7398	286612	23	5031	192
MY	MalaysiaMalaysia	3940	228449	24	9526	30
CH	SwitzerlandSwitzerland	2297	222567	25	7855	65
AT	AustriaAustria	2226	202914	26	7371	37
EE	EstoniaEstonia	2208	182946	27	3049	5
LV	LatviaLatvia	2782	167427	28	6725	2
TR	TurkeyTurkey	6945	166124	29	6649	109
SG	SingaporeSingapore	2777	157357	30	5539	96
TH	ThailandThailand	5305	156341	31	4205	20
IN	IndiaIndia	7205	112681	32	6183	5
NZ	New ZealandNew Zealand	1676	111539	33	3616	35
NO	NorwayNorway	1106	102198	34	2757	15
SI	SloveniaSlovenia	917	100832	35	2563	31
ID	IndonesiaIndonesia	5150	100674	36	6235	160
KR	Korea (South)Korea (South)	3779	98228	37	4623	127
RO	RomaniaRomania	1205	91969	38	3093	39
IE	IrelandIreland	846	85029	39	3617	7
HU	HungaryHungary	1609	79227	40	3372	20
SE	SwedenSweden	1186	76177	41	2742	22
PH	PhilippinesPhilippines	1627	65752	42	2530	45
ZA	South AfricaSouth Africa	1624	61936	43	3833	18
HR	CroatiaCroatia	619	53459	44	1163	25
BG	BulgariaBulgaria	1004	52016	45	3982	-8
SK	SlovakiaSlovakia	1065	44923	46	2666	46
GR	GreeceGreece	457	40882	47	947	5
DK	DenmarkDenmark	449	38165	48	1372	19
IL	IsraelIsrael	451	37545	49	1054	8
MD	MoldovaMoldova	559	37525	50	1355	36
MX	MexicoMexico	851	25287	51	748	5
LU	LuxembourgLuxembourg	191	24943	52	1056	2
RS	SerbiaSerbia	310	20371	53	609	13
IS	IcelandIceland	200	19787	54	555	5
MO	MacaoMacao (*)	611	17787	55	803	6
KZ	KazakhstanKazakhstan	469	15033	56	939	-5
AR	ArgentinaArgentina	569	15013	57	271	3
CL	ChileChile	315	10136	58	222	20
AE	United Arab EmiratesUnited Arab Emirates	196	9895	59	510	6
DZ	AlgeriaAlgeria	147	6120	60	261	-2
PR	Puerto RicoPuerto Rico (*)	165	6070	61	332	6
MT	MaltaMalta	82	5922	62	206	-3
UZ	UzbekistanUzbekistan	108	5860	63	139	0
BA	Bosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina	118	5728	64	90	3
LK	Sri LankaSri Lanka	207	5666	65	343	9
MK	MacedoniaMacedonia	61	4871	66	102	0
IR	IranIran	121	4545	67	34	-2
CY	CyprusCyprus	59	4516	68	202	0
CR	Costa RicaCosta Rica	120	4270	69	146	-12
VN	VietnamVietnam	112	4102	70	86	10
GG	GuernseyGuernsey (*)	50	3650	71	382	1
PK	PakistanPakistan	58	3116	72	94	-13
MU	MauritiusMauritius	38	2932	73	81	-6
AZ	AzerbaijanAzerbaijan	64	2926	74	169	4
EC	EcuadorEcuador	33	2621	75	113	-1
EG	EgyptEgypt	79	2395	76	73	2
BN	BruneiBrunei	53	2352	77	57	4
AM	ArmeniaArmenia	50	2197	78	73	4
QA	QatarQatar	46	2121	79	19	-3
TN	TunisiaTunisia	68	2100	80	106	0
TT	Trinidad and TobagoTrinidad and Tobago	52	1997	81	92	6
KE	KenyaKenya	38	1968	82	32	0
CU	CubaCuba	27	1757	83	65	2
MA	MoroccoMorocco	119	1740	84	92	-1
KG	KyrgyzstanKyrgyzstan	62	1670	85	52	-4
BS	BahamasBahamas	13	1648	86	78	-2
UY	UruguayUruguay	36	1548	87	73	0
PE	PeruPeru	81	1547	88	77	-2
ME	MontenegroMontenegro	42	1543	89	1	-1
GT	GuatemalaGuatemala	25	1474	90	46	-1
JE	JerseyJersey (*)	21	1333	91	51	0
ET	EthiopiaEthiopia	20	1329	92	80	-2
PF	French PolynesiaFrench Polynesia (*)	12	1251	93	34	0
VE	VenezuelaVenezuela	51	1165	94	24	0
SA	Saudi ArabiaSaudi Arabia	38	1147	95	50	-4
BH	BahrainBahrain	25	1133	96	48	-2
DO	Dominican RepublicDominican Republic	53	1103	97	39	1

Rankings as at 1st of March 2015

Rankings as at 1st of March 2015

Sorry that I couldn't post newest rankings on postcrossing earlier. This time I made comparisons between 01/01/2015 data and 01/03/2015 data. On this two months. Russia has overtaken USA and likely to hold the second place for a long time I guess. Top 5 ranks will be undisputed for some long time. But there will be stiff competition between 7th ranked China and 8th ranked Taiwan in coming months. Czech Republic is likely to go pass United Kingdom in about four or five months. Though there is very close competition between Lithuania and Australia, Lithuania is likely to increase the lead slowly but steadily. Sri Lanka also has got great potential to go pass Bosnia and Herzegovina, Malta and Uzbekistan .

Within last two months Russia has recruited more members than any other country with a count of 2409 members and Taiwan was the second by recruiting 1748 members. Rankings as at 1st of March 2015 were as following, if you country is not in the list please comment under this post.

Code	Country name	Members	Postcards Sent	Rank As at Today	Poscard Earlier	Poscards Change
DE	Germany Germany	40628	3670755	1	3500761	169994
RU	Russia Russia	63500	2925197	2	2778835	146362
US	United States of America United States of America	52385	2910909	3	2818733	92176
NL	Netherlands Netherlands	34317	2686309	4	2608584	77725
FI	Finland Finland	17209	2186876	5	2140400	46476
BY	Belarus Belarus	22125	1360987	6	1308089	52898
CN	China China	49981	1276775	7	1226726	50049
TW	Taiwan Taiwan (*)	53049	1264084	8	1213195	50889
UA	Ukraine Ukraine	22897	1062023	9	1029033	32990
PL	Poland Poland	26196	853602	10	828336	25266
JP	Japan Japan	7059	591204	11	568382	22822
GB	United Kingdom United Kingdom	11208	568968	12	551886	17082
CZ	Czech Republic Czech Republic	11398	535433	13	505295	30138
CA	Canada Canada	7804	461109	14	445722	15387
FR	France France	8133	437979	15	416270	21709
LT	Lithuania Lithuania	6867	373809	16	362987	10822
AU	Australia Australia	5522	372656	17	362296	10360
PT	Portugal Portugal	5863	351239	18	343520	7719
BE	Belgium Belgium	3854	320508	19	307057	13451
ES	Spain Spain	4630	305402	20	296729	8673
BR	Brazil Brazil	7206	281581	21	276894	4687
IT	Italy Italy	2752	280828	22	273304	7524
HK	Hong Kong Hong Kong (*)	7169	274454	23	259962	14492
MY	Malaysia Malaysia	3910	218923	24	209853	9070
CH	Switzerland Switzerland	2232	214712	25	206976	7736
AT	Austria Austria	2189	195543	26	188112	7431
EE	Estonia Estonia	2203	179897	27	176923	2974
LV	Latvia Latvia	2780	160702	28	153909	6793
TR	Turkey Turkey	6836	159475	29	153125	6350
TH	Thailand Thailand	5285	152136	30	147749	4387
SG	Singapore Singapore	2681	151818	31	146611	5207
NZ	New Zealand New Zealand	1641	107923	32	104968	2955
IN	India India	7200	106498	33	100020	6478
NO	Norway Norway	1091	99441	34	96559	2882
SI	Slovenia Slovenia	886	98269	35	96144	2125
ID	Indonesia Indonesia	4990	94439	36	88961	5478
KR	Korea (South) Korea (South)	3652	93605	37	89102	4503
RO	Romania Romania	1166	88876	38	86095	2781
IE	Ireland Ireland	839	81412	39	78249	3163
HU	Hungary Hungary	1589	75855	40	72702	3153
SE	Sweden Sweden	1164	73435	41	70943	2492
PH	Philippines Philippines	1582	63222	42	61162	2060
ZA	South Africa South Africa	1606	58103	43	53703	4400
HR	Croatia Croatia	594	52296	44	51291	1005
BG	Bulgaria Bulgaria	1012	48034	45	44694	3340
SK	Slovakia Slovakia	1019	42257	46	39943	2314
GR	Greece Greece	452	39935	47	39094	841
DK	Denmark Denmark	430	36793	48	35588	1205
IL	Israel Israel	443	36491	49	35198	1293
MD	Moldova Moldova	523	36170	50	34584	1586
MX	Mexico Mexico	846	24539	51	24103	436
LU	Luxembourg Luxembourg	189	23887	52	23044	843
RS	Serbia Serbia	297	19762	53	19256	506
IS	Iceland Iceland	195	19232	54	18790	442
MO	Macao Macao (*)	605	16984	55	16294	690
AR	Argentina Argentina	566	14742	56	14422	320
KZ	Kazakhstan Kazakhstan	474	14094	57	13283	811
CL	Chile Chile	295	9914	58	9680	234
AE	United Arab Emirates United Arab Emirates	190	9385	59	8863	522
DZ	Algeria Algeria	149	5859	60	5588	271
PR	Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (*)	159	5738	61	5527	211
UZ	Uzbekistan Uzbekistan	108	5721	62	5547	174
MT	Malta Malta	85	5716	63	5527	189
BA	Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina	115	5638	64	5526	112
LK	Sri Lanka Sri Lanka	198	5323	65	4997	326
MK	Macedonia Macedonia	61	4769	66	4667	102
IR	Iran Iran	123	4511	67	4490	21
CY	Cyprus Cyprus	59	4314	68	4205	109
CR	Costa Rica Costa Rica	132	4124	69	3977	147
VN	Vietnam Vietnam	102	4016	70	3940	76
GG	Guernsey Guernsey (*)	49	3268	71	2930	338
PK	Pakistan Pakistan	71	3022	72	2968	54
MU	Mauritius Mauritius	44	2851	73	2782	69
AZ	Azerbaijan Azerbaijan	60	2757	74	2548	209
EC	Ecuador Ecuador	34	2508	75	2381	127
EG	Egypt Egypt	77	2322	76	2282	40
BN	Brunei Brunei	49	2295	77	2237	58
AM	Armenia Armenia	46	2124	78	2045	79
QA	Qatar Qatar	49	2102	79	2084	18
TN	Tunisia Tunisia	68	1994	80	1861	133
KE	Kenya Kenya	38	1936	81	1871	65
TT	Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago	46	1905	82	1851	54
CU	Cuba Cuba	25	1692	83	1626	66
MA	Morocco Morocco	120	1648	84	1587	61
KG	Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan	66	1618	85	1594	24
BS	Bahamas Bahamas	15	1570	86	1479	91
ME	Montenegro Montenegro	43	1542	87	1542	0
UY	Uruguay Uruguay	36	1475	88	1377	98
PE	Peru Peru	83	1470	89	1413	57
GT	Guatemala Guatemala	26	1428	90	1408	20
JE	Jersey Jersey (*)	21	1282	91	1224	58
ET	Ethiopia Ethiopia	22	1249	92	1180	69
PF	French Polynesia French Polynesia (*)	12	1217	93	1163	54
VE	Venezuela Venezuela	51	1141	94	1119	22
SA	Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia	42	1097	95	1051	46
BH	Bahrain Bahrain	27	1085	96	1065	20
DO	Dominican Republic Dominican Republic	52	1064	97	998	66
PA	Panama Panama	24	1060	98	1030	30
GH	Ghana Ghana	72	1053	99	1010	43

Wesak Festival

New Year celebrations are almost over. I was not really ready for it being busy and as my grandmother was in hospital. And in the end of April there was a funeral of one of my uncles. Month of May is important for Buddhists all over the world.  And I was born in May too.  Wesak commemorates the birth, enlightenment and passing away of Gautama Buddha. Pandals තොරණ are erected around major cities mostly from 550 Jathaka Kathas. There are poetic elaborations describing each part of the Pandal. Lanterns will be hung in almost every Buddhist Household and colourful bulbs are lit. Yesterday on the Wesak Full Moon Poya Day I went to a Dansala of Sweetmeats. Of course they were tasty and really liked them. I don’t think it would be necessary to talk about whether these days’ dansalas are actually intended for needy. I really like the concept of Dansalas and almsgiving. There were certain times when people came to Dansala and stayed in the town for days until the Dansala was over.  Dansala is usually a food stall in which foods are given for free.  With the time Dansalas have evolved and there are of course Dansalas with exclusion of Food items. Do whatever you can for the needy whenever you are capable of.