Postal services

The Macau postal service dates back to 1798 when 'Correio Maritimo', or 'sea-mail', was established in Portugal to facilitate the transmission of letters and parcels between Portugal and Mozambique, India and Macau.
Service was infrequent and slow until the introduction of the adhesive stamp in the nineteenth century, a revolutionary innovation which caused a significant increase in demand for postal services.

 

1949

1950

In 1878 Macau joined the Universal Postal Union and on 29th February 1884 Ricardo de Sousa was formally recognized as the Administrator of the Correio Maritimo, a function which he had carried out since 1869. This paved the way for the publication on 1st March the following year of the "Provisional Instructions for the Postal Service" immediately following which the first adhesive stamps were issued in Macau. Ricardo de Sousa, who until then had conducted operations from his own house at No.1 Rua do Campo, transferred the business to a new location on Rua da Praia Grande. Thus 1st March 1885 is recognized as the birth of the Macau Postal Service.

1911

1937

Twenty years later the "Post Office Box" service was introduced and in 1910, on 26th August, the first local post marks were introduced identifying individual post offices. 1920 saw the introduction of the first direct mail bag between Macau and Lisbon, via Suez. In 1937 came the direct air mail.

Enviado de Macau em Fevereiro de 1900

Emissão de 1966