World Post Day, an event to raise awareness of the role of postal services in people’s lives, is held each year on Oct. 9. Here are five facts about postal organizations around the globe.
1. USPS is one of the world’s largest posts. The organization handles 47 percent of the world’s mail, delivering more mail to more addresses than any other post.
2. Royal Mail Group is one of the world’s oldest organizations. The group, which operates the postal service in the United Kingdom, traces its roots to 1516, when Henry VIII knighted Brian Tuke the first “master of the posts.” The Royal Mail is credited with many innovations, including the 1840 introduction of the Penny Black, the world’s first postage stamp.
3. India has more Post Offices than any other country. The nation’s Department of Posts operates 155,015 Post Offices, which the agency describes as the most widely distributed postal network in the world.
4. La Poste delivers more than mail and packages. Like other posts around the globe, France’s postal organization offers a variety of services, including retail banking, insurance and home visits to the elderly.
5. Benjamin Franklin was a Canadian postal pioneer, too. In 1753, while serving as Philadelphia’s Postmaster, Franklin was promoted to joint Postmaster General for the British colonies in North America. Two years later, he opened the first Canadian Post Office, in Halifax, linking its citizens with Great Britain and the other Atlantic colonies. The Crown dismissed Franklin in 1774 for actions sympathetic to the cause of the colonies.
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