This is a survey of the postage stamps 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 Maldives. The Maldive Islands are located in the Indian Ocean and are formed by a double chain of twenty-six atolls stretching in a north-south direction off India's Lakshadweep islands, between

Minicoy Island Minicoy, locally known as Maliku (), is an island in Lakshadweep, India. Along with Viringili, it is on ''Maliku atoll'', the southernmost atoll of Lakshadweep archipelago. Administratively, it is a census town in the Indian union territory of ...

and

Chagos Archipelago The Chagos Archipelago () or Chagos Islands (formerly the Bassas de Chagas, and later the Oil Islands) is a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean about 500 kilometres (310 mi) south of the Maldives archi ...

. They stand in the Laccadive Sea, about seven hundred kilometers south-west of

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

First stamps

The first stamps used in the islands were overprinted stamps of Ceylon issued on 9 September 1906. When those ran out, un-overprinted stamps of Ceylon were used. Maldives 1909 02

The first stamps inscribed "Maldives" were issued on 15 May 1909.

Independence

On 26 July 1965, the sultanate gained independence from the United Kingdom. In 1968, the Republic of Maldives was established. Maldives 1964 Islam 040

References

External links

Maldives Post
Philately of the Maldives {{philately-stub

First stamps

Independence

References

Further reading

External links