Posten with historic stamp release

Never before have stamps been unveiled as far north in the world. In Longyearbyen on Svalbard, the first stamp launch of the year has taken place.

– Posten Norge has a long history on Svalbard, and we have the world’s northern most post office here in Longyearbyen. We are delighted that we now also can launch stamps with motifs from Svalbard, where this unique archipelago is depicted on our new stamps, says the CEO of Posten Norge AS, Tone Wille.

The very first postal service to be established on Svalbard was run by whalers. They used bottle mail in Kobbefjorden in the 17^th century. The whalers left mail in bottles on what is today still called “Postholmen”. The post was then picked up by their colleagues who were going out or returning from fishing who then delivered the mail to the right recipients.

– In 1896, the first normal postal service was started at the archipelago and today postcards and stamps are among the most sold products here on Svalbard, says Wille.

On the new stamps, the Svalbard reindeer and Forlandet National Park are depicted. The latter has its 50^th anniversary as a national park this year after more than half of Svalbard was protected in 1973.

FACTS:

• Posten is launching two new stamps with a Svalbard motif this year.
• The motifs show Svalbard reindeer, which was almost extinct in the 1920s, but now there are 20,000-25,000 animals. The reindeer are regulated through limited hunting.
• Forlandet National Park is the subject of the second stamp. The national park, which includes the entire island of Prins Karls Forland, was protected in 1973. Today there are seven national parks and 22 protected areas in Svalbard.