World Post Day is an international day that occurs each year on October 9, the anniversary of the

Universal Postal Union The Universal Postal Union (UPU, french: link=no, Union postale universelle), established by the Treaty of Bern of 1874, is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that coordinates postal policies among member nations, in addition to ...

(UPU), which started in 1874 in Switzerland. The UPU was the start of the global communications revolution, introducing the ability to write letter to others all over the world. World Post Day started in 1969. Since then, countries all over the world take part in celebrations to highlight the importance of the postal service. Many things happen on this day. Post offices in some countries hold special stamp collection exhibitions; there are open days at postal measures and there are workshops on postal history. The UPU organizes an international letter writing competition for young people. Since 1969, UPU announces the annual best postal services of the year on the 9 October.

Postal system The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal syst ...

s have been in operation for many centuries. From back way back in history, people sent letters to each other. These were delivered on foot or on horseback by special messengers. From the 1600s the first national postage systems began springing up in many countries. These were more organized and many people could use them. Slowly countries agreed to exchange mail internationally. By the late 1800s there was a global postal service, but it was slow and complicated. The birth of the UPU in 1874 opened the way for the efficient postal service in existence today. In 1948, the UPU become an agency of the United Nations.

History

October 9 was first declared World Post Day at the 1969 UPU Congress in

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

, Japan. The proposal was submitted by Shri Anand Mohan Narula, a member of the Indian delegation. Since then, World Post Day has been celebrated all over the world to highlight the importance of the

postal services The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal syst ...

.{{cite web, title=About World Post Day, url=http://www.upu.int/en/the-upu/world-post-day/about-world-post-day.html, publisher=United Postal Union, accessdate=9 October 2011

References

External links

World Post Day at the United Nations
Awareness days October observances Postal systems Universal Postal Union