This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Saudi Arabia , formerly known as the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd until 22 September 1932. The Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd had been separate countries until the mid-1920s.
Saudi Arabia is the largest Arab country of the Middle East. It is bordered by Jordan and Iraq on the north and northeast, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates on the east, Oman on the southeast, and Yemen on the south. The Persian Gulf lies to the northeast and the Red Sea to its west. It has an estimated population of 28 million, and its size is approximately 2,149,690 square kilometres (830,000 sq mi).
Hejaz, in the western part of Arabia came under Turkish influence in 1517 and the Turks took direct control in 1845. Before the introduction of postage stamps and the railway, the limited amounts of mail that was sent traveled mainly by camel.
Between 1900 and 1908 a railway was built between Medina and Damascus known as the Hejaz railway and a number of railway stamps were issued for use on the service. Revenue stamps were also issued in connection with the financing of the railway.
The Turks operated post offices at Abha or Ebha, El Ula, Hedye, Jeddah, Konfida, Mecca, Taif, Tebouk and Yanbo, and an Egyptian post office operated at Jeddah between 1865 and 1881. [1]
Hejaz achieved independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1916. The first stamps of Hejaz were issued in October 1916. Stamps continued until 1925 and the many issues are noted for their complexity with many different printings and overprints which are often found inverted. [1] [2]
By 1925 Nejd had conquered the Kingdom of Hejaz. A variety of stamps were issued during the occupation, including postage stamps, railway stamps, postage dues and revenue stamps. Many were overprinted, including Turkish stamps made valid for postage in the territory. [1] [3]
On 8 January 1926, the Sultan of Nejd, Abdul Aziz Ibn Saud, was crowned King of the Hejaz in the Grand Mosque of Mecca. On January 29, 1927, he also took the title King of Nejd, as opposed to the earlier Sultan. At the Treaty of Jeddah on May 20, 1927, Abdul Aziz's realm was recognized by the United Kingdom and was addressed as the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd.
The first stamps of the new kingdom were issued in February 1926 and a number of other series were issued up until 1932. [1] [4]
The first stamps marked Saudi Arabia were issued on 1 January 1934. [5]
Regular issues have continued up to the present time, mostly on subjects relevant to life in Saudi Arabia and including a number of long-running definitive series.
On May 20, 1980, the Saudi government issued a set of two commemorative anti-smoking postage stamps to coincide with that year's April 7 World Health Day theme entitled "Smoking or health? The choice is in your hands." [6] To modernize its service, Saudi Post built three new postal centers in Dammam, Riyadh, and Jeddah as part of its 1981–1985 Five Year Development Plan; stamps commemorating the centers were released on July 14, 1982, and the centers themselves opened to the public the following year. [7] With Saudi Arabia having hosted the 1989 FIFA World Youth Championship, the kingdom issued two commemorative football-themed stamps on February 16, 1989, one day before the tournament began. [8] In June 2023, Saudi Post collaborated with the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah to issue a special stamp and postcard set commemorating that year's Hajj pilgrimage. [9]
Transport in Saudi Arabia is facilitated through a relatively young system of roads, railways and seaways. Most of the network started construction after the discovery of oil in the Eastern Province in 1952, with the notable exception of Highway 40, which was built to connect the capital Riyadh to the economically productive Eastern Province, and later to the Islamic holy city of Mecca and the port city of Jeddah. With the economic growth of the 1970s, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has initiated many infrastructure development projects across the country, and the extensive development of the transportation network has followed suit in support of various economic developments.
The Hejaz is a region that includes the majority of the west coast of Saudi Arabia, covering the cities of Mecca, Medina, Jeddah, Tabuk, Yanbu, Taif and Baljurashi. It is thus known as the "Western Province", and it is bordered in the west by the Red Sea, in the north by Jordan, in the east by the Najd, and in the south by the Region of 'Asir. Its largest city is Jeddah, which is the second-largest city in Saudi Arabia, with Mecca and Medina, respectively, being the fourth- and fifth-largest cities in the country.
Jeddah, alternatively transliterated as Jedda, Jiddah or Jidda, is a port city in Makkah Province, Saudi Arabia, located along the Red Sea coast in the Hejaz region. Jeddah is the commercial center of the country. It is not known when Jeddah was founded, but Jeddah's prominence grew in 647 when the Caliph Uthman made it a travel hub serving Muslim travelers going to the holy city of Mecca for Islamic pilgrimage. Since those times, Jeddah has served as the gateway for millions of pilgrims who have arrived in Saudi Arabia, traditionally by sea and recently by air.
This article is about the Province of Mecca. For the city, see Mecca. For other uses, see Mecca (disambiguation)
Each "article" in this category is a collection of entries about several stamp issuers, presented in alphabetical order. The entries are formulated on the micro model and so provide summary information about all known issuers.
Each "article" in this category is a collection of entries about several stamp issuers, presented in alphabetical order. The entries are formulated on the micro model and so provide summary information about all known issuers.
Articles related to Saudi Arabia include:
The Unification of Saudi Arabia was a military and political campaign in which the various tribes, sheikhdoms, city-states, emirates, and kingdoms of most of the central Arabian Peninsula were conquered by the House of Saud, or Al Saud. Unification started in 1902 and continued until 1932, when the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was proclaimed under the leadership of Abdulaziz, known in the West as Ibn Saud, creating what is sometimes referred to as the Third Saudi State, to differentiate it from the Emirate of Diriyah, the First Saudi State and the Emirate of Nejd, the Second Saudi State, also House of Saud states.
The Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd, initially the Kingdom of Hejaz and Sultanate of Nejd, was a dual monarchy ruled by Abdulaziz following the victory of the Saudi Sultanate of Nejd over the Hashemite Kingdom of the Hejaz in 1925. It was the fourth iteration of the Saudi State.
Panama was formerly a department of Colombia and used overprints of Colombian stamps from 1878 until it gained independence in 1903. However, from 1903 to 1905 sets of stamps with overprints were still used and it was only in 1906 that the first printed stamps by the Panamanian postal administration were produced with República de Panamá.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Muscat and Oman, including the present day Sultanate of Oman.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Syria.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Jordan, formerly Transjordan.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Ukraine.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Eritrea.
The Emirate of Riyadh was the first iteration of the Third Saudi State from 1902 to 1913. It was a monarchy led by the House of Saud. The state was formed after Saudi forces seized Riyadh from the control of the Emirate of Ha'il, led by the House of Rashid, during the Battle of Riyadh. It was the direct antecedent of the Emirate of Nejd and Hasa, and the earliest legal predecessor of present-day Saudi Arabia. Al-Hasa was conquered in 1913.
The Saudi conquest of Hejaz or the Second Saudi-Hashemite War, also known as the Hejaz-Nejd War, was a campaign engaged by Saudi Sultan Abdulaziz to take over the Hashemite Kingdom of Hejaz in 1924–25, ending with conquest and incorporation of Hejaz into the Saudi domain.
Saudi National Day is a public holiday in Saudi Arabia celebrated annually on 23 September to commemorate the proclamation that renamed the Kingdom of Nejd and Hejaz as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in 1932 through a royal decree by King Abdulaziz ibn Saud. It was founded in 1965 on its 33rd anniversary by King Faisal bin Abdulaziz in order to replace the Royal Seating Day and was made a public holiday by King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz in 2005. Saudi National Day is one of the three non-religious holidays observed in the country, other being the Saudi Founding Day and Saudi Flag Day.
Germany–Saudi Arabia relations refers to the international relations between Germany and Saudi Arabia.
The Declaration of theUnification of Saudi Arabia was officially announced by Prince Faisal bin Abdulaziz, the Viceroy of Hejaz on behalf of King Abdulaziz ibn Saud on September 23, 1932, at 9:00 am from al-Hamidiyah Palace in Mecca. Faisal read out the Royal Decree No. 2716 issued by Abdulaziz ibn Saud on September 18, 1932, that renamed the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd and its annexes as the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.