Íslandspóstur (, ) or simply Pósturinn (, ) is the national

postal service 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 sy ...

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. It is wholly owned by the Icelandic Government. It dates back to the year 1776 when Christian VII, king of

Denmark Denmark is a Nordic countries, Nordic country in Northern Europe. It is the metropole and most populous constituent of the Kingdom of Denmark,, . also known as the Danish Realm, a constitutionally unitary state that includes the Autonomous a ...

ordered a mail service to be established in the country. Its current form was established in 1998 following the split from the state telecom,

Síminn Síminn hf. (, ; also known as Iceland Telecom Ltd.), previously named Landssíminn (, ), is an Icelandic telecommunications company. It offers communication services for both private and corporate clients, including mobile ( 4G/ 5G), landline, i ...

. Iceland Post is a member of the

Universal Postal Union The Universal Postal Union (UPU, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that coordinates postal policies among member nations and facilitates a uniform worldwide postal system. It has 192 member states and is headquartered in Be ...

and the Small European Postal Administration Cooperation.

History

Icelandic postal history dates back to the year 1776 when Christian VII, king of

(and of Iceland at the time) ordered a mail service to be established in the country. Two years later, regular postal sailings began between Iceland and Denmark, once a year. The first Icelandic postage stamps were published in 1873, and at the same time, the Icelandic postal system was being organised under a special board and the first post offices being established.

First post office

In 1872, the first post office was opened at

Austurvöllur Austurvöllur () is a public square in Reykjavík, Iceland. The square is a popular gathering place for the citizens of Reykjavík, and especially during good weather due to the prevalence of cafés on Vallarstræti and Pósthússtræti. It has ...

square, in a timber structure located where Hotel Borg currently is. The street later became ''Pósthússtræti'' (namesake, ) and the post office was at number 11. The first

postmaster A postmaster is the head of an individual post office, responsible for all postal activities in a specific post office. When a postmaster is responsible for an entire mail distribution organization (usually sponsored by a national government), ...

in Iceland was Óli Finsen, who held the role until his death. The first post office in Reykjavík was also referred to as ''Finsenshús'', or Finsen's house. At this time, there was no home delivery of letters or parcels.

Move to Pósthússtræti 3

In 1898, the post office was moved to a stone building, previously a school (built in 1882), at Pósthússtræti 3. It then became the first

telephone exchange A telephone exchange, telephone switch, or central office is a central component of a telecommunications system in the public switched telephone network (PSTN) or in large enterprises. It facilitates the establishment of communication circuits ...

and headquarters of Iceland Telecom (

) from 1906 to 1931 and from 1935 to 1965 it was a

police station A police station is a facility operated by police or a similar law enforcement agency that serves to accommodate police officers and other law enforcement personnel. The role served by a police station varies by agency, type, and jurisdiction, ...

. The building was returned to Iceland Post in 1965.

Move to Pósthússtræti 5

In 1914, a larger

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

was constructed next to the existing office at Pósthússtræti 5, on the corner of Austurstræti and Pósthússtræti. Until the 1960s, it was the only post office in Reykjavík, when city district post offices began to be established. The Reykjavík post office was the main

sorting office A sorting office or processing and distribution center (P&DC; name used by the United States Postal Service (USPS)) is any location where postal operators bring mail after collection for sorting into batches for delivery to the addressee, whic ...

for the whole country. International

airmail Airmail (or air mail) is a mail transport service branded and sold on the basis of at least one leg of its journey being by air. Airmail items typically arrive more quickly than surface mail, and usually cost more to send. Airmail may be th ...

began in the 1950s, as well as domestic airmail becoming an important part of the distribution network in the latter part of the 20th century.

Telecom merger

In 1935, the postal service and the national telephone company were merged under the name Póstur og Sími (Post and Telephone). In rural towns, Póstur og Sími constructed combined facilities which housed telephone exchanges, telecom equipment, retail post offices and sorting offices.

Postcodes and new sorting office

In 1970, three-digit

postcodes A postal code (also known locally in various English-speaking countries throughout the world as a postcode, post code, PIN or ZIP Code) is a series of letters or digits or both, sometimes including spaces or punctuation, included in a postal ...

were introduced in Iceland. The first digit is ordered approximately clockwise around the country starting from Reykjavík (e.g. 101 for Reykjavík central). Conditions were considered cramped in the central Reykjavík sorting office. As a result, in 1984 a new sorting office was built in Ármúli, then in the outskirts of Reykjavík. The relatively new sorting office in Ármúli was designed with manual sorting in mind and was already unsuitable by the 1990s.

Original post office

In 2002, part of the Pósthússtæti post office (built in 1914) was converted to office space and a youth centre, but a local post office remained in the building until it closed in 2018. It was converted to a

food hall A food hall is a large standalone location or department store section where food and drinks are sold. Overview Unlike food courts made up of fast food chains, food halls typically mix local artisan restaurants, butcher shops and other food- ...

in 2022, called the 'Post Office Food Hall'.

Split from Síminn

In 1998, postal services were again split from telecoms becoming Landssími Íslands (later called

, Iceland Telecom) and Íslandspóstur (Iceland Post).

New sorting warehouse

A large purpose-built postal sorting warehouse was constructed at Höfðabakki in 1998. The sorting office in Ármúli later became the headquarters of

in 2000 after the split. Höfðabakki is still in use as the main sorting centre and headquarters for Iceland Post as of 2024. Automatic letter sorting commenced in 2001.

Telegrams

In 2005, Iceland Post acquired the

telegram Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas pi ...

service from Síminn, having previously been operated jointly before the split. Telegrams were mostly used at the time for formal and commemorative messages to family (e.g. confirmations, birthdays). The

services were discontinued in 2018.

2020 and beyond

In the 2020s, in response to poor finances, Iceland Post began significantly reducing the number of

s, both in rural areas and in the

Reykjavík Reykjavík is the Capital city, capital and largest city in Iceland. It is located in southwestern Iceland on the southern shore of Faxaflói, the Faxaflói Bay. With a latitude of 64°08′ N, the city is List of northernmost items, the worl ...

region. Self-service

parcel locker A parcel locker is an automated Post office box, postal box that allows users for a self-service collection of parcels and oversize letters as well as the dispatch of parcels. Amazon Locker Amazon Locker is a self-service package delivery servic ...

s have been introduced in place of post offices. The number of postboxes have also been reduced. In 2020, Iceland Post announced it would cease issuing new stamps, exiting the

philately Philately (; ) is the study of postage stamps and postal history. It also refers to the collection and appreciation of stamps and other philatelic products. While closely associated with stamp collecting and the study of postage, it is possibl ...

market. It will continue to sell existing editions of older stamps and may reprint older stamps if necessary to replenish its stock.

Operations

Iceland Post operates postal services in Iceland under a

universal service Universal service is an economic, legal and business term used mostly in regulated industries, referring to the practice of providing a baseline level of services to every resident of a country. An example of this concept is found in the US Tel ...

obligation. It delivers international and domestic letters and parcels countrywide. It also operates

s, postboxes and

s. In some post offices it offers packaging, boxes and

stationery Stationery refers to writing materials, including cut paper, envelopes, continuous form paper, and other office supplies. Stationery usually specifies materials to be written on by hand (e.g., letter paper) or by equipment such as computer p ...

for sale, as well as

Western Union The Western Union Company is an American multinational financial services corporation headquartered in Denver, Denver, Colorado. Founded in 1851 as the New York and Mississippi Valley Printing Telegraph Company in Rochester, New York, the co ...

money transfer services. Stamps are sold in post offices as well as through some distributors such as service stations, convenience stores and bookstores.

References

External links

*
Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Islandspostur

Logistics companies of Iceland Postal system of Iceland Philately of Iceland 1776 establishments in Europe