This is a survey of the

postage stamp 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 f ...

s 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 at ...

Eritrea Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopi ...

. Eritrea is a country in the North East of Africa. The capital is

Asmara Asmara ( ), or Asmera, is the capital and most populous city of Eritrea, in the country's Central Region. It sits at an elevation of , making it the sixth highest capital in the world by altitude and the second highest capital in Africa. The c ...

. It is bordered by

Sudan Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...

in the west,

Ethiopia Ethiopia, , om, Itiyoophiyaa, so, Itoobiya, ti, ኢትዮጵያ, Ítiyop'iya, aa, Itiyoppiya officially the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a landlocked country in the Horn of Africa. It shares borders with Eritrea to the ...

in the south, and

Djibouti Djibouti, ar, جيبوتي ', french: link=no, Djibouti, so, Jabuuti officially the Republic of Djibouti, is a country in the Horn of Africa, bordered by Somalia to the south, Ethiopia to the southwest, Eritrea in the north, and the Red ...

in the southeast. The east and northeast of the country have an extensive coastline on the

Red Sea The Red Sea ( ar, البحر الأحمر - بحر القلزم, translit=Modern: al-Baḥr al-ʾAḥmar, Medieval: Baḥr al-Qulzum; or ; Coptic: ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϩⲁϩ ''Phiom Enhah'' or ⲫⲓⲟⲙ ⲛ̀ϣⲁⲣⲓ ''Phiom ǹšari''; ...

, directly across from

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...

and

Yemen Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the north and Oman to the northeast and ...

. The Dahlak Archipelago and several of the

Hanish Islands The Hanish Islands ( ar, جزر حنيش, ) is an archipelago in the Red Sea consisting of a trio of major islands at the centre of an array of smaller islets and rocks. The three major islands are the northern Zuqar Island, the southern Great ...

are part of Eritrea. Its size is just under with an estimated population of 5 million.

First stamps

The first stamps of Eritrea were

overprint An overprint is an additional layer of text or graphics added to the face of a Postage stamp, postage or revenue stamp, postal stationery, banknote or Ticket (admission), ticket after it has been Printing, printed. Post offices most often use ...

ed stamps of Italy issued on 1 January 1893.''Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue: North East Africa''. London: Stanley Gibbons, 2013, pp. 181-192. Before that, Egyptian stamps were used at

Massawa Massawa ( ; ti, ምጽዋዕ, məṣṣəwaʿ; gez, ምጽዋ; ar, مصوع; it, Massaua; pt, Maçuá) is a port city in the Northern Red Sea region of Eritrea, located on the Red Sea at the northern end of the Gulf of Zula beside the Dahla ...

between 1869 and 1885 and Italian post offices were established. Rossiter, Stuart & John Flower. ''The Stamp Atlas''. London: Macdonald, 1986, p.278.

Italian Eritrea

The first stamps specifically for

were stamps inscribed COLONIA ERITREA issued in 1910. Stamp UK Eritrea 1950 65c

Italian East Africa

Eritrea, Ethiopia and Italian Somaliland formed Italian East Africa on 1 June 1936. Stamps were issued on 7 February 1938 and until 1941.

British occupation

After British forces occupied Eritrea and the other Italian colonies during World War II, British postage stamps overprinted M.E.F. ''(Middle East Forces)'' were used. These were replaced by issues overprinted B.M.A. ERITREA or later B.A. ERITREA to reflect the change from British military to British civil administration. Stamps overprinted in this way were in use from 1942 to 1952.

1952-1991

Between 1952 and 1991, Eritrea was federated with Ethiopia and used the stamps of Ethiopia.

Independence

The first stamps of independent Eritrea were those issued to mark the independence referendum in 1993.

References

External links

Postage Stamps of Italian Colonies by Tony Clayton
{{PostalhistoryAfrica Communications in Eritrea

History of Eritrea Philately of Italy Philately of Ethiopia