305:
26:
415:"Bedford" vans made in England were used, even during the '70s. Today Sri Lanka Post uses a fleet of Japanese vehicles painted in the traditional red. During the '50s and '60s postmen on British made BSA - Bantam motorcycles were a familiar sight. When the postman's beat becoming smaller in the cities, the motorcycles gave way to the bicycles. The mails are carried today by railway, public and private omni-buses, and the department's fleet of vehicles.
170:
147:
395:
Over the years, different modes of transport have been used for the transportation and delivery of mail. In a bygone era, delivery was first by foot (in the hills and remote places it is not uncommon to see postmen delivering letters on foot, even today!), then bicycles were added. Sri Lanka Post was
331:
succeeded
Bletterman as the second Postmaster General in 1817. The third Postmaster General was Major G. Stewart, who extended the postal services to major towns in the country. They re-organised the postal service and others eventually established a permanent Post Office in Colombo in 1882.
351:
The first adhesive stamps (the six-pence purple-brown stamps on blued paper) were issued on 1 April 1857, seventeen years after
Britain had introduced the adhesive postage stamp to the world. The first stamps in local denominations of rupees and cents were issued on 1 February 1892.
315:
Sri Lanka Post has a long history of 222 years, dating back to 1798, when the colonial Dutch rulers started five post offices in the
Maritime Districts under their control. In 1799, they published the first postal regulations and postage rates. The
292:, currently Ranjith Ariyaratne. Assisting in administration there is a deputy Postmaster General in every province. Sri Lanka Post employs more than 22,000 employees in various positions to staff and support the 4738
355:
On August 20, 2024, Sri Lanka's Postal
Department released the world's longest stamp, measuring 205 millimetres (8.1 in). This stamp celebrates the Sri Dalada Perahera festival in Kandy.
340:
The only evidence of a
British postal service before 1815 is a "Colombo Post Free" handstamp used on a soldier's letter in 1809, when British Royal Artillery troops were engaged to subdue
434:
387:. The new building, consisting of 9 floors of modern facilities, is the center of operations and administration. The Postal Museum, too, is housed in this building.
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36:
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956:
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the first to inaugurate a mail coach service in Asia. The mail coach service began operations in 1832, between
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840:
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and
Colombo in 1838. The year 1892 saw the first "Travelling Post Office" doing its run between Colombo and
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424:
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270:
75:
820:
439:
368:
687:
449:
915:
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317:
720:
650:
515:
258:
187:
599:
715:
682:
454:
760:
341:
560:
380:
363:
The
General Post Office was housed in different places in Colombo. By 1895 it acquired its
8:
780:
770:
765:
474:
108:
587:
320:
operated the Postal service, which was not meant for the public but for official use.
703:
595:
348:(1798–1815), whose inland territory had never been under the influence of the Dutch.
324:
304:
345:
250:
173:
150:
383:
in the country, the GPO was moved out of its former building and into the present
619:
860:
835:
207:
935:
905:
900:
890:
885:
830:
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745:
735:
730:
672:
328:
262:
895:
850:
795:
677:
575:"World's longest stamp released in line with Sri Dalada Perahera in Kandy"
535:
875:
805:
790:
662:
293:
123:
46:
920:
880:
865:
855:
845:
815:
740:
725:
707:
409:
243:
162:
25:
825:
785:
750:
379:, currently the Janadhipath Mawatha (President's Street). During the
266:
96:
285:
and is one of the oldest
Government departments in existence today.
775:
667:
397:
274:
135:
79:
475:"The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka"
405:
401:
309:
435:
614:
223:
131:
127:
548:
Encyclopedia of
British Empire Postage Stamps, 1775–1950,
277:. The department itself comes under the purview of the
323:
The British took control of the country in 1815, when
480:. Colombo, Presidential Secretariat. 21 January 2020
649:
327:was the Postmaster General for the whole island.
933:
445:Postage stamps and postal history of Sri Lanka
635:
608:
283:Ceylon Post and Telecommunications Department
642:
628:
358:
561:"The World's longest stamp in Sri Lanka"
550:v. III, p. 93, and illustrated on p. 97.
303:
934:
499:
497:
495:
288:The head of the Sri Lanka Post is the
279:Ministry of Information and Mass Media
623:
430:List of people on stamps of Sri Lanka
536:Sri Lanka Post, "Heritage", on line.
947:Government departments of Sri Lanka
505:"Sri Lanka Post Annual report 2017"
492:
13:
14:
968:
390:
335:
269:. The postal headquarters is the
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146:
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24:
281:. It was formerly known as the
594:, v. 1, No. 36 (4 Feb. 2007).
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567:
553:
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467:
1:
460:
425:General Post Office, Colombo
404:. This was extended between
7:
418:
10:
973:
952:Postal system of Sri Lanka
609:External links and sources
440:Post and Telegraph Signals
299:
658:
588:Gaveshaka, "Our Heritage"
450:Postal codes in Sri Lanka
218:
206:
193:
183:
160:
141:
119:
102:
90:
70:
52:
42:
32:
23:
318:Dutch East India Company
516:Parliament of Sri Lanka
359:The General Post Office
188:Government of Sri Lanka
957:Philately of Sri Lanka
651:Postal administrations
455:Postal museum, Colombo
312:
242:functioning under the
412:, a suburb of Kandy.
342:Sri Vikrama Rajasinha
307:
942:Postal organizations
906:United Arab Emirates
308:A public postbox in
296:across the country.
273:which is located in
253:: ශ්රී ලංකා තැපැල්
240:Department of Posts,
58: (226 years ago)
592:Sunday Times Online
385:Postal Headquarters
371:'s residence - the
271:General Post Office
195:Number of employees
109:Bandula Gunawardane
76:General Post Office
20:
313:
290:Postmaster General
18:
929:
928:
711:
512:www.parliament.lk
325:Egbert Bletterman
236:
235:
202:
179:
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56:1 April 1798
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369:Governor General
255:Shri Lanka Tæpæl
232:
229:
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213:Ministry of Post
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177:
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171:
154:
149:
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113:Ministry of Post
66:
64:
59:
28:
21:
17:
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367:, opposite the
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12:
11:
5:
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699:Mainland China
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624:
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615:Sri Lanka Post
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391:Transportation
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377:Queen's Street
373:Queens's House
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357:
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336:Postage stamps
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301:
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247:Sri Lanka Post
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210:
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153:6.996 billion
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47:Postal service
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19:Sri Lanka Post
9:
6:
4:
3:
2:
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549:
546:Robson Lowe,
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388:
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378:
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370:
366:
356:
353:
349:
347:
346:king of Kandy
343:
333:
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329:Louis Sansoni
326:
321:
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311:
306:
297:
295:
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284:
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264:
263:postal system
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128:Mail delivery
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69:
55:
51:
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45:
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35:
31:
27:
22:
16:
901:Turkmenistan
870:
856:Saudi Arabia
591:
583:
569:
555:
547:
542:
531:
519:. Retrieved
511:
482:. Retrieved
469:
414:
394:
381:disturbances
365:own building
362:
354:
350:
339:
322:
314:
294:post offices
287:
282:
254:
246:
239:
237:
71:Headquarters
33:Company type
15:
866:South Korea
841:Philippines
821:North Korea
663:Afghanistan
590:, Colombo,
199:>80,000
124:Post office
92:Area served
936:Categories
911:Uzbekistan
881:Tajikistan
781:Kyrgyzstan
776:Kazakhstan
721:East Timor
683:Bangladesh
673:Azerbaijan
461:References
410:Peradeniya
259:government
244:brand name
163:Net income
104:Key people
63:1798-04-01
37:Department
871:Sri Lanka
861:Singapore
836:Palestine
746:Indonesia
736:Hong Kong
704:regulator
600:1391-0531
521:2 January
484:2 January
267:Sri Lanka
261:operated
97:Sri Lanka
85:Sri Lanka
891:Thailand
831:Pakistan
806:Mongolia
801:Maldives
796:Malaysia
708:operator
419:See also
257:), is a
176:477,005
120:Services
43:Industry
916:Vietnam
811:Myanmar
786:Lebanon
731:Georgia
678:Bahrain
668:Armenia
653:of Asia
398:Colombo
300:History
275:Colombo
251:Sinhala
226:.slpost
219:Website
142:Revenue
136:sourier
132:banking
80:Colombo
61: (
53:Founded
896:Turkey
886:Taiwan
851:Russia
771:Jordan
761:Israel
716:Cyprus
693:Brunei
688:Bhutan
598:
344:, the
208:Parent
201:(2017)
178:(2017)
155:(2017)
921:Yemen
876:Syria
846:Qatar
816:Nepal
791:Macau
766:Japan
741:India
726:Egypt
508:(PDF)
478:(PDF)
406:Galle
402:Kandy
310:Kandy
184:Owner
826:Oman
756:Iraq
751:Iran
596:ISSN
523:2023
486:2023
400:and
238:The
228:.gov
375:on
265:in
230:.lk
224:www
938::
706:,
514:.
510:.
494:^
174:Rs
151:Rs
134:,
130:,
126:,
83:,
78:,
710:)
702:(
643:e
636:t
629:v
577:.
563:.
525:.
488:.
249:(
115:)
111:(
65:)
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
