The Ozarks known as the Ozark Mountains or Ozark Plateau, is a physiographic region in the U. S. states of Missouri, Arkansas and extreme southeastern Kansas. The Ozarks cover a significant portion of northern Arkansas and most of the southern half of Missouri, extending from Interstate 40 in Arkansas to Interstate 70 in central Missouri. There are two mountain ranges within the Ozarks: the Boston Mountains of Arkansas and the St. Francois Mountains of Missouri. Buffalo Lookout, the highest point in the Ozarks, is located in the Boston Mountains. Geologically, the area is a broad dome with the exposed core in the ancient St. Francois Mountains, some of the oldest rocks in North America; the Ozarks cover nearly 47,000 square miles, making it the most extensive highland region between the Appalachians and Rockies. Together with the Ouachita Mountains, the area is known as the U. S. Interior Highlands; the Salem Plateau, named after Salem, makes up the largest geologic area of the Ozarks. The second largest is the Springfield Plateau, named after Springfield, nicknamed the "Queen City of the Ozarks".

On the northern Ozark border are the cities of Columbia, Missouri. Significant cities in Arkansas include Fayetteville. Branson is a tourist destination and popularizer of Ozark culture just north of the Arkansas–Missouri border. Ozarks is a toponym believed to be derived as an English-language adaptation of the French abbreviation aux Arcs. In the decades prior to the French and Indian War, aux Arkansas referred to the trading post at Arkansas Post, located in wooded Arkansas Delta lowland area above the confluence of the Arkansas River with the Mississippi River. "Arkansas" seems to be the French version of what the Illinois tribe called the Quapaw, who lived in eastern Arkansas in the area of the trading post. The term came to refer to all Ozark Plateau drainage into the Arkansas and Missouri rivers. An alternative origin for the name "Ozark" relates. In the 17th and early 18th centuries, French cartographers mapped the Arkansas and Mississippi rivers; the large, topmost arc or bend in this part of the Arkansas River was referred to as being aux arcs—the top or northernmost arc in the whole of the lower Arkansas.

Travelers arriving by boat would disembark at this top bend of the river to explore the Ozarks. Other possible derivations include aux arcs meaning " of the arches", in reference to the dozens of natural bridges formed by erosion and collapsed caves in the Ozark region; these include Clifty Hollow Natural Bridge in Missouri, Alum Cove in the Ozark–St. Francis National Forest, it is suggested aux arcs is an abbreviation of aux arcs-en-ciel, French for "toward the rainbows", which are a common sight in the mountainous regions. After the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, American travelers in the region referred to various features of the upland areas using the term "Ozark", such as "Ozark Mountains" and "Ozark forests". By the early 20th century, the "Ozarks" had become a generic and used term; the Ozarks consist of five physiographic subregions: the Boston Mountains of north Arkansas and Cookson Hills of east Oklahoma. Karst features such as springs, losing streams and caves are common in the limestones of the Springfield Plateau and abundant in the dolomite bedrock of the Salem Plateau and Boston Mountains.

Missouri is known as "The Cave State" with over 7,300 recorded caves, second in number only to Tennessee. The majority of these caves are found in the Ozark counties; the Ozark Plateaus aquifer system affects groundwater movement in all areas except the igneous core of the St. Francois Mountains. Geographic features include limestone and dolomite glades, which are rocky, desert-like areas on hilltops. Kept open by periodic fires that limit growth of grasses and forbs in shallow soil, glades are home to collared lizards, scorpions and other species more typical of the Desert Southwest; the Boston Mountains contain the highest elevations of the Ozarks, with peaks over 2,500 feet, form some of the greatest relief of any formation between the Appalachians and Rocky Mountains. The Ouachita Mountains to the south rise a few hundred feet higher, but are not geographically associated with the Ozarks; the Boston Mountains portion of the Ozarks extends north of the Arkansas River Valley 20 to 35 miles, is 200 miles long, is bordered by the Springfield and Salem Plateau to the north of the White River.

Summits can reach elevations of just over 2,560 feet, with valleys 500 to 1,550 feet deep. Turner Ward Knob is the highest named peak. Found in western Newton County, its elevation is 2,463 feet. Nearby, five unnamed peaks have elevations at or above 2,560 feet. Drainage is to the White River, with the exception of the Ill

Muirkirk is a passenger rail station on the MARC Camden Line between the District of Columbia's Washington Union Station and Baltimore's Camden Station It is located at 7012-B Muirkirk Road over the bridge that carries Muirkirk Road above both the Camden Line and US 1. Muirkirk station consists of two platforms with open shelters on both sides of the former Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Washington Division line. A concrete open storm drain runs beneath the northbound platform. Three pedestrian walkways cross over the storm drain as well as the tracks. US 1 runs behind the southbound platform, protected by guard rails and a chain-link fence. Media related to Muirkirk at Wikimedia Commons Station from Muirkirk Road from Google Maps Street View

Samuil Markovich Blekhman was a renowned philatelist of the Soviet Union who wrote a number of notable philatelic books and articles. He was born in Moscow, was trained and worked as an engineer, lived much of his life in Moscow. Blekhman's works were related to postal history and postage stamps of Tuva, Mongolia and Soviet Union as well as airmail, he participated in prestigious national and international philatelic exhibitions and won a number of high-caliber awards. One of his main philatelic contributions was a detailed study of Tuva stamps and their cataloging, awarded the silver-plated plaquette at the World Stamp Exhibition "PRAGA 1962" and posthumously translated and published in English. In addition to numerous Russian articles, Samuil Blekhman published his philatelic research papers in English: Blekhman, S. M.. "The local 1932–1933 surcharges of Tuva". Rossica: Journal of the Rossica Society of Russian Philately. 79: 5–10. ISSN 0035-8363. Blekhman, S. M.. D. M. Skipton. "Airmail stamps of the Soviet Consulate in Berlin".

Rossica: Journal of the Rossica Society of Russian Philately. 96–97: 97–101. ISSN 0035-8363. Blekhman, S. M.. "Rare varieties of USSR miniature sheets". Rossica: Journal of the Rossica Society of Russian Philately. 96–97: 113–114. ISSN 0035-8363. Blekhman, S. M.. D. Skipton. "The field post in the Caucasus during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878". Rossica: Journal of the Rossica Society of Russian Philately. 98–99: 16–20. ISSN 0035-8363. Blekhman, S. M.. M. Tihomirov. "Private mail-order forms of the Moscow City Post". Rossica: Journal of the Rossica Society of Russian Philately. 98–99: 100. ISSN 0035-8363. Blekhman, S. M.. D. Skipton. "Postal history of the Mongolian People's Republic". Rossica: Journal of the Rossica Society of Russian Philately. 104–105: 7–11. ISSN 0035-8363. Blekhman, S. M.. G. Shalimoff. "Civil War in Siberia and the Far East in the mirror of philatey". Rossica: Journal of the Rossica Society of Russian Philately. 111: 52–57. ISSN 0035-8363. Postage stamps and postal history of Tannu Tuva Rossica Society of Russian Philately