Postage stamps and postal history of Somalia, 1903 to 2025

In short

The south's first stamps were issued in 1903 for the Benadir Company, under Italian authority, and the first Somali Republic stamps came out on 1 July 1960 (Wikipedia, "Postage stamps and postal history of Somalia", citing Rossiter and Flower, The Stamp Atlas, 1986, and the Stanley Gibbons Stamp Catalogue Part 14, 1981).

In 1991 Somalia had "some 100 post offices and a postal staff of 2,165". By 2013 there was one general post office in the capital and about 25 staff (Universal Postal Union, 26 April 2013).

The colonial south, 1903–1950

From the Wikipedia article and its catalogue sources (Wikipedia):

• 1903. The first stamps were issued for the Benadir Company.
• 1905. Italy took over the colony directly after revelations that the Benadir Company had tolerated the slave trade; stamps were overprinted on Benadir issues. See the partition of the Somali lands.
• 1916. Italian stamps began to be overprinted for Italian Somaliland. Benadir overprints went on until 1926.
• 1925. Italian stamps overprinted Oltre Giuba were issued for Trans-Juba, the part of Jubaland that Britain ceded to Italy; the area was then joined to Italian Somaliland.
• 1930. The first definitive set inscribed "Somalia" was issued.
• 1936–1941. Stamps of Italian East Africa were used. See fascist rule and the war.
• 1941–1950. Under British occupation, British stamps were overprinted "M.E.F." (Middle East Forces), then "E.A.F." (East Africa Forces) from 15 January 1943, then "B.M.A. Somalia" and "B.A. Somalia" from 1948 to 1950. See the British Military Administration.
• 1950–1960. The trust territory under Italian administration issued stamps inscribed in Italian and Somali. See the UN trusteeship.

British Somaliland, 1903–1960

Stamps were issued for British Somaliland from 1903 to 1960, first under that name and later as the Somaliland Protectorate. On 26 June 1960 a set was overprinted "Somaliland Independence 26 June 1960" (Wikipedia). See British Somaliland and the State of Somaliland, 1960.

The Republic, 1960–1991

• 1 July 1960. The first stamps of the Somali Republic were issued on the day of union.
• 1969. After the coup, stamps were inscribed for the Somali Democratic Republic (Wikipedia).
• Textiles on stamps. A 2012 study traced how Somali stamps showed dress and textiles as symbols of national politics (Heather Marie Akou, "The Changing Politics of Textiles as Portrayed on Somali Postage", 2012, as cited by Wikipedia).

Collapse and revival, 1991–2025

• 1991. The service had about 100 post offices and 2,165 staff (UPU, 2013). It stopped operating during the civil war. Stamps continued to be produced abroad without authority, apparently for collectors (Wikipedia).
• 22 April 2013. Somalia's minister and Emirates Post signed a memorandum, witnessed by the UPU, for Dubai to act "as a hub for handling mail destined for Somalia". The minister said: "We ask for all means of assistance as we have to start from ground zero" (UPU, 2013).
• October 2014. The government relaunched delivery of mail from abroad and introduced postcodes nationwide for the first time (BBC, 13 October 2014, as reposted).
• 2025. Somalia took over direct handling of international mail through an exchange centre in Mogadishu on 1 May, and the Ministry of Communications and Technology officially resumed the national postal service on 28 July (Wikipedia, citing the ministry and Dawan Africa).

Who suffered?

• Somalis abroad and at home, who for more than two decades could not send or receive letters through a national post (UPU, 2013).

Sources differ

• How long the post was closed. The UPU wrote in 2013 of "23 years with no postal services". Reports in 2025 spoke of a "36-year suspension" (as cited by Wikipedia).
• Validity of later stamps. Stamps issued in Somalia's name from 1991 to April 2025 were made outside any working postal service, and their validity is disputed (Wikipedia).

Read the primary sources yourself

• Universal Postal Union, "Mail services could soon resume in Somalia", 26 April 2013: article.
• Wikipedia, "Postage stamps and postal history of Somalia", with its catalogue references: article.