This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Niger, a former French colony that obtained independence in 1960.
Niger is a landlocked country in West Africa named after the Niger River. It borders Nigeria and Benin to the south, Burkina Faso and Mali to the west, Algeria and Libya to the north and Chad to the east. Niger covers a land area of almost 1,270,000 km2, over 80 percent of which is covered by the Sahara desert. The capital city is Niamey.
In 1920, Niger was separated from Upper Senegal & Niger and became a separate colony in 1922.
The first stamps used in the new colony were stamps of Upper Senegal and Niger overprinted TERRITOIRE DU NIGER in 1921. [1] The same stamps were surcharged in 1922.
From 1926, stamps marked prominently NIGER and in smaller letters AFRIQUE OCCIDENTALE FRANCAISE were issued.
In these years, Niger used the stamps of French West Africa. [2]
The first stamps of Niger as an autonomous republic were issued in 1959 [2] [3] and are marked Republique du Niger. Niger acquired full independence on 3 August 1960.
Stamps up to the 1970s tended to be large engraved issues similar to other former French colonies, including stamps featuring famous paintings like those of France. Later, more cheaply produced stamps were issued but designs continue to be large pictorials, typically of local relevance with some issues designed to appeal internationally to thematic stamp collectors.
Niger does not appear to distinguish between commemorative and definitive stamps, and unlike many African countries, has not issued cheaply produced definitive stamps for domestic mail use. A series of 14 small official stamps were issued in 1962 and a replacement set in 1988. Several series of postage due stamps have also been issued. [4]
A number of stamps have been issued which purport to be from Niger but which are believed to be illegal issues. [5]
French Sudan was established in the late nineteenth century and occupied roughly the same territory as modern Mali.
Senegambia and Niger was a short-lived administrative unit of the French possessions in Africa, formed in 1902 and reorganized in 1904 into Upper Senegal and Niger.
Upper Senegal and Niger was a colony in French West Africa created in 1904 from Senegambia and Niger. Niger became a separate military district in 1911 and a separate colony in 1922, Upper Volta was split off in 1919, and the remainder reorganized as French Sudan in 1920. The capital was Bamako.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Bechuanaland Protectorate.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Chad.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Burkina Faso, known as Upper Volta until July 1984.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Benin, formerly Dahomey.
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 Lebanon, formerly known as Liban.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Trinidad and Tobago.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Ghana, known as the Gold Coast before independence.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Libya. Libya is a country located in North Africa. Bordering the Mediterranean Sea to the north, Libya lies between Egypt to the east, Sudan to the southeast, Chad and Niger to the south, and Algeria and Tunisia to the west.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of South Africa.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Mali.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Zimbabwe.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Mauritania.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Guinea.
This is a survey of the postage stamps and postal history of Transvaal, formerly known as the South African Republic.
The African territories of Ruanda and Urundi came under Belgian control as Ruanda-Urundi after they were seized from Germany during World War I in 1916. They had previously formed part of German East Africa.
