History

The postal services is one of the first infrastructure services of Jordan due to the need of people and institutions to communicate and correspond with various bodies. Therefore, Jordan Post existed with the establishment of the Emirate of Transjordan. Post, Telegraph and Telephony service began officially with the establishment of the first government known as “the Board of Administrators” in 1921.

Post department was established and it comprised 8 post offices in the beginning. They were connected via a telephone network and equipped with telegraphs using Morse code. Back then, the rules, regulations and instructions applicable in Palestine during the British Mandate were applied. Later on, some necessary changeswere made to accommodate the economic, administrative and financial circumstances of the country, and consequently the regulations of mail, parcels, transfer and postal orders were issued.

After the establishment of Postal Administration, it expanded its services in the Emirate and opened 9 new branches. Between 1939 and 1949, new post offices were established and connected to the telephone network, in addition to the establishment of 10 postaldivisions. At the same time, the telephone service switched from Magneto telephone to half automatic ones.

During that period, mail was transported using horses and trains, and later on by cars, in addition to shipping by sea to other countries.

In 6 August 1939, Post, Telegraph and Telephony service became the Ministry of Transportation, during the second tenure of the government of HE late Tawfiq Abu Al Hoda, and the first minister of transportation was Ali Basha Al Kayed. In the ministerial make-ups of the consecutive governments, the ministry remained “Ministry of Transportation”. However, the name was changed several times to the Ministry of Mail and Telegraph. This ministry attempted to keep pace with the latest developments in the field of postal services and communications, until the establishment of the Telecommunications Corporation in 1972 and it separation from the Ministry.

Postal services as well as telegraph and telephone remained the ministry’s responsibility on behalf of Telecommunications Corporation, where phone call used be operated by postal offices and telephone dispatches 24 hours a day.

The Telecommunications Law No. 13 of 1995 was passed, and as a result, the Telecommunications Regulatory Commission was established. The Telecommunications Corporation was transformed into a Government-owned company. As a result of covering all regions of Jordan, switch dispatches in postal offices were decommissioned.

In 2002, Temporary Postal Services Law No. 5 of 2002 was passed (endorsed by the parliament and became Postal Services Law No. 34 of 2007) according to which Jordan Post was established as a public operator of postal services. Jordan Post commenced operation on 1/1/2003, while the Ministry of Post and Communications was renamed as the “Ministry of Information and Communications Technology.

It should be noted that the current number of post offices in Jordan amounts to 277, and Jordan Post still provides various services to citizens and beneficiaries, whether in the form of postal services, financial services, or other services on behalf of other public and private agencies, companies, and institutions, including telecommunication companies, in terms of bills distribution and collection, telegraphs, phone booths and others.

Postage Stamps

The postage stamps used in Transjordan before 1918 wereOttoman stamps.In KingFaisal era,in the period between 1918- 1920, postage stamps were issued in the name ofthe Arab Kingdomof Syria. After the founding of Transjordan, postage stamps of the Arab Kingdom of Syria were used initially, until a British adviser brought some quantities of the Palestinian stamps bearing the word “Transjordan”.In October 1927, Jordanian stamps were issuedbearing the image of His Majesty Late King Abdullah bin Al-Hussein, the founder and price of Transjordan at that time. Later on,severalJordanian commemorative stamps were issued between 1927 and 1933 commemorating a number of occasions such as the enactment of the first Constitution of Transjordan in 1928,the locusts in 1930, and some archaeological places in1933. However, the first set of commemorative stamps foranational occasion was issued in May 25th, 1946 to commemorate the Independence and the second setwas issued in 1947 to commemorate the establishment of the national assembly.The first set of Jordanian stamps commemorating an international occasion wasin 1949 to mark the 57thanniversary of the founding of Universal Postal Union.

The first set of commemorative stamps bearing the image of His Majesty Late King Hussein Bin Talal was issued on 1/10/1953 to commemoratehisascending to the throne. They were also the first stamps issued in the reign of late King Hussein and comprised 6 stamps. In the time of His Majesty King Abdullah II Bin Al Hussein, the first postage stamp to be issued weretocommemorate the 38th birthday of his Majesty on January 30th, 2000,