Postal History of Yemen

On Arabia’s Southern Tip.

Before Stamps

In the 1800s, Yemen was part of the Ottoman Empire, which ran the postal service. When the Ottomans left in 1918, there was no official mail service. People used couriers or carried letters themselves.

The First Stamps

Yemen issued its first stamps in 1926, mainly for local mail. Sending letters abroad was complicated because Yemen wasn’t yet a member of the Universal Postal Union (UPU). To send international mail, people had to add stamps from places like Aden, which was under British control. Yemen joined the UPU in 1930, making global mail much easier.

Two Yemens

Kingdom of Yemen (1918–1970) issued its own stamps until 1970. After a civil war in 1962, the Yemen Arab Republic (YAR) was established, but the Kingdom’s Royalist government continued to issue stamps while fighting for control.
People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (1970–1990), often called South Yemen, was a British colony before gaining independence in 1967. It officially became the PDRY in 1970.

One Yemen

In 1990, North and South Yemen united to form the Republic of Yemen. Today, Yemen has a modern postal service that connects its people to the world.

Did You Know?:

Before stamps were introduced, Yemen’s ruler, Imam Yahya, used a secret royal courier service to carry important messages for his family and government.
Yemen’s first stamps, issued in 1926, were cancelled with handmade intaglio seals instead of the usual postmarks, and these seals were locally carved in different sizes and designs.
Before 1937, when Aden was a British colony, stamps from British India were used for mail because Aden was part of British India.
During the North Yemen Civil War (1962–1970), both the Royalists (Kingdom of Yemen) and the Republicans (Yemen Arab Republic) issued their own stamps. Many of these were made more for collectors than for everyday mail.

You can see examples of Yemen’s stamps from different periods: