This is a survey of the postage stamps

Postage stamp

A postage stamp is a small piece of paper that is purchased and displayed on an item of mail as evidence of payment of postage. Typically, stamps are made from special paper, with a national designation and denomination on the face, and a gum adhesive on the reverse side...

 and postal history

Postal history

Postal history is the study of postal systems and how they operate and, or, the study of postage stamps and covers and associated material illustrating historical episodes of postal systems...

 of Zanzibar

Zanzibar

Zanzibar ,Persian: زنگبار, from suffix bār: "coast" and Zangi: "bruin" ; is a semi-autonomous part of Tanzania, in East Africa. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of the mainland, and consists of numerous small islands and two large ones: Unguja , and Pemba...

.

Zanzibar is a semi-autonomous part of the United Republic of Tanzania

Tanzania

The United Republic of Tanzania is a country in East Africa bordered by Kenya and Uganda to the north, Rwanda, Burundi, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo to the west, and Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique to the south. The country's eastern borders lie on the Indian Ocean.Tanzania is a state...

, in East Africa

East Africa

East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...

. It comprises the Zanzibar Archipelago

Zanzibar Archipelago

The Zanzibar Archipelago consists of several islands lying off the coast of East Africa in the Indian Ocean. There are two main islands, plus a host of smaller islets that surround them.-Main islands:...

 in the Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

, 25–50 km (15.5–31.1 mi) off the coast of the mainland

Mainland

Mainland is a name given to a large landmass in a region , or to the largest of a group of islands in an archipelago. Sometimes its residents are called "Mainlanders"...

, and consists of numerous small island

Island

An island or isle is any piece of sub-continental land that is surrounded by water. Very small islands such as emergent land features on atolls can be called islets, cays or keys. An island in a river or lake may be called an eyot , or holm...

s and two large ones: Unguja

Unguja

Unguja as mentioned in The Periplus of the Erythraean Sea is the largest and most populated island of Zanzibar, in Tanzania.-Geography:...

 (the main island, informally referred to as Zanzibar), and Pemba. Zanzibar was once a separate state with a long trading history within the Arab world. It united with Tanganyika

Tanganyika

Tanganyika , later formally the Republic of Tanganyika, was a sovereign state in East Africa from 1961 to 1964. It was situated between the Indian Ocean and the African Great Lakes of Lake Victoria, Lake Malawi and Lake Tanganyika...

 to form Tanzania in 1964.

First stamps

The first stamps used in Zanzibar were those of India from about 1875.

The first stamps inscribed Zanzibar were issued in 1895.

See also

• French post offices in Zanzibar
  French post offices in Zanzibar
  The French post offices in Zanzibar were post offices operated by France in Zanzibar from 1894 to 1904, when the United Kingdom took direct control of what had previously been a protectorate. Early issues were French stamps overprinted in the local currency...
  
  
• German post offices abroad
  German post offices abroad
  The German post offices abroad were a network of post offices in foreign countries established by Germany to provide mail service where the local services were deemed unsafe or unreliable. They were generally set up in cities with some sort of German commercial interest...
  
  
• Postage stamps and postal history of British East Africa
  Postage stamps and postal history of British East Africa
  This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of British East Africa.Britain had interests in this area as early as 1824. Missionaries are known to have settled in the area in 1844. The Imperial British East Africa Company obtained a concession in 1887 to administer this area, from...
  
  
• Postage stamps and postal history of German East Africa
  Postage stamps and postal history of German East Africa
  This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of German East Africa.German East Africa was a German colony in East Africa, including what is now Burundi, Rwanda and Tanganyika...
  
  
• Postage stamps and postal history of Tanzania
  Postage stamps and postal history of Tanzania
  right|framed|10-cent flag, 1965.right|thumb|1-shilling stamp of 1965, used at [[Shinyanga]] probably in 1968. Note that the postmark still gives "Tanganyika" as country name.right|thumb|5-shilling stamp of 1980 depicting [[lion]] and cubs, used in 1985.The story of the postage stamps and postal...
  
  

Further reading

• Proud, Ted
  Ted Proud
  Edward Wilfrid Baxby Proud is a pioneering British postal historian and philatelic writer who in 2008 was invited to sign the Roll of Distinguished Philatelists....
  
  . The postal history of Uganda and Zanzibar. Heathfield, Sussex: Postal History Publications Co., 1993. ISBN 1872465080

External links

• http://www.stampdomain.com/country/tanzania/display.htm
• http://www.rpsl.org.uk/uganda_zanzibar/index.html