The postal history of

Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan,, pronounced or the Kyrgyz Republic, is a landlocked country in Central Asia. Kyrgyzstan is bordered by Kazakhstan to the north, Uzbekistan to the west, Tajikistan to the south, and the People's Republic of China to the ea ...

began when the nation declared independence in August 1991. Under the

Soviet Union The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...

, the

Kyrgyz SSR The Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kirghiz SSR; ky, Кыргыз Советтик Социалисттик Республикасы, Kyrgyz Sovettik Sotsialisttik Respublikasy, ky, Кыргыз ССР, Kyrgyz SSR, russian: Киргизск ...

postal service was an integral part of the Soviet system. The republic was periodically recognized in sets of stamps honoring the different parts of the USSR. Kyrgyzstan is a member state 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 ...

since 1993 with its two designated postal operators - "Kyrgyz Pochtasy" SE and " Kyrgyz Express Post" LLC.

First stamps

Kyrgyzstan issued its first

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 ...

on 4 February 1992, a single design depicting the Sary-Chelek Nature Preserve in

Jalal-Abad Province Jalal-Abad Region ( ky, Жалал-Абад облусу, Jalal-Abad oblusu; russian: Джалал-Абадская область, Dzhalal-Abadskaya oblast) is a region (''oblast'') of Kyrgyzstan. Its capital is the city of the same name, Jalal ...

. The country's name was given in both Cyrillic and

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

letters; many Kyrgyz stamps have since done likewise, although the practice is not consistent, with some stamps only inscribed in Cyrillic and others only in Latin. In April and June 1993, several types of Russian stamps were surcharged in

ruble The ruble (American English) or rouble (Commonwealth English) (; rus, рубль, p=rublʲ) is the currency unit of Belarus and Russia. Historically, it was the currency of the Russian Empire and of the Soviet Union. , currencies named ''rub ...

values, followed in August by the first stamps denominated in tyiyn. In 2014 the second designated postal operator of Kyrgyzstan, Kyrgyz Express Post (KEP), decided to issue its stamps by the consent of the Ministry of Transport and Communications of the Republic of Kyrgyzstan. During that year, KEP has presented two issues of stamps. The first one, issued on November 18, was dedicated to the 140th anniversary of the

and Postal transportation of Kyrgyzstan. The second one, issued on November 19, was dedicated to Fauna of Kyrgyzstan.

References

Sources

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

Scott catalog The Scott catalogue of postage stamps, published by Scott Publishing Company, now a subsidiary of Amos Media, is updated annually and lists all the stamps of the world that its editors recognize as issued for postal purposes. It is published in f ...

External links

The State Enterprise "Kyrgyz Post""Kyrgyz Express Post" LLC
{{PostalhistoryAsia Postal Postal