This is a survey of the

postage stamps A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail), who then affix the stamp to the fa ...

and

postal history Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of the use of postage stamps and covers and associated postal artifacts illustrating historical episodes in the development of postal systems. The term is att ...

of the

Tanganyika Tanganyika may refer to: Places * Tanganyika Territory (1916–1961), a former British territory which preceded the sovereign state * Tanganyika (1961–1964), a sovereign state, comprising the mainland part of present-day Tanzania * Tanzania Main ...

under

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

mandate.

First stamps

The first postage stamps of Tanganyika were stamps of the

East Africa and Uganda Protectorates East Africa and Uganda Protectorates was the name used by the combined postal service of the British protectorates, British East Africa and Uganda, between 1 April 1903 and 22 July 1920. East Africa and Uganda Protectorates The administration iss ...

overprint An overprint is an additional layer of text or graphics added to the face of a postage or revenue stamp, postal stationery, banknote or ticket after it has been printed. Post offices most often use overprints for internal administrative pur ...

ed "G.E.A." (for German East Africa), used in 1921 and 1922. These are superficially identical to the last occupation issues of

German East Africa German East Africa (GEA; german: Deutsch-Ostafrika) was a German colony in the African Great Lakes region, which included present-day Burundi, Rwanda, the Tanzania mainland, and the Kionga Triangle, a small region later incorporated into Mozam ...

, but the presence of the "Crown and Script CA"

watermark A watermark is an identifying image or pattern in paper that appears as various shades of lightness/darkness when viewed by transmitted light (or when viewed by reflected light, atop a dark background), caused by thickness or density variations ...

shows they were issued after the civil administration took over from the military, and are thus properly considered the first issues of Tanganyika.

Later issues

In 1922, the government issued a series of 19 stamps inscribed "TANGANYIKA", featuring the head of a giraffe, denominated in cents, shillings and pounds (100 cents to a shilling, 20 shillings to a pound), with several colour changes in 1925. The changes were because there were many power changes, with each leader wanting a different color. This was followed in 1927 by a second series of 16 values in a more conventional design with a profile of

King George V George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936. Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...

and inscribed "MANDATED TERRITORY OF TANGANYIKA". In 1927, Tanganyika entered the

Customs Union A customs union is generally defined as a type of trade bloc which is composed of a free trade area with a common external tariff.GATTArticle 24 s. 8 (a) Customs unions are established through trade pacts where the participant countries set up ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = "Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi , ...

and

Uganda }), is a landlocked country in East Africa East Africa, Eastern Africa, or East of Africa, is the eastern subregion of the African continent. In the United Nations Statistics Division scheme of geographic regions, 10-11-(16*) territor ...

, as well as the East African Postal Union. Between 1935 and 1963, stamps of the combined postal administration ( East African Posts and Telecommunications Administration) inscribed " Kenya, Uganda, Tanganyika" were in use.

Independence

Shortly after independence in 1961, the new state of Tanganyika issued a series of

commemorative stamps A commemorative stamp is a postage stamp, often issued on a significant date such as an anniversary, to honor or commemorate a place, event, person, or object. The ''subject'' of the commemorative stamp is usually spelled out in print, unlike defi ...

inscribed "TANGANYIKA". This was followed by a final commemorative issue on December 9, 1962, with four stamps inscribed "JAMHURI YA TANGANYIKA" ("Republic of Tanganyika") to commemorate the founding of the republic. Tanganyika ceased to exist as a nation in 1964, when it was loosely united with

Zanzibar Zanzibar (; ; ) is an insular semi-autonomous province which united with Tanganyika in 1964 to form the United Republic of Tanzania. It is an archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of many small islands ...

, to form the nation of

Tanzania Tanzania (; ), officially the United Republic of Tanzania ( sw, Jamhuri ya Muungano wa Tanzania), is a country in East Africa within the African Great Lakes region. It borders Uganda to the north; Kenya to the northeast; Comoro Islands and ...

. Stamps of the East African postal administration remained valid until well after the formation of Tanzania.

Sources

Stanley Gibbons The Stanley Gibbons Group plc is a company quoted on the London Stock Exchange specialising in the retailing of collectable postage stamps and similar products. The group is incorporated in London. The company is a major stamp dealer and philat ...

Ltd: various catalogues * Rossiter, Stuart & John Flower. ''The Stamp Atlas''. London: Macdonald, 1986.
Encyclopaedia of Postal Authorities

First stamps

Later issues

Independence

Sources

Further reading