In pics: Know interesting facts about World Post Day

Gone are the days when long letters were written for loved ones. Times are changing, so are the modes of communication. In the changing communication landscape, Posts across the world innovate to remain relevant.

On the occasion of the World Post Day, celebrated across the globe on October 9, we look at some fascinating facts about the world of mail.

Importance of the World Post Day: The event was declared by the 1969 Universal Postal Congress in Tokyo as a means to mark the anniversary of the Universal Postal Union's (UPU) creation in 1874.

The purpose of World Post Day is to bring awareness to the Post's role in the everyday lives of people and businesses, as well as its contribution to global social and economic development.

India is a postal leader: India has the largest postal network in the world with 1,54,939 post offices as on March 31, 2015, of which 1,39,222 (89.86%) are in the rural areas. At the time of independence there were 23,344 post offices.

The most expensive stamp: According to the Mirror, the most expensive stamp sold so far is a British Penny Red for £550,000.

Rare Indian stamps: According to Sandafayre, some of the rare Indian stamps feature Mahatma Gandhi (1948) and Lion and Palm Tree (1853), to name a few.

Unique post in history: According to the MSN, NASA astronauts Dave Scott and Jim Irwin spent three days exploring the moon in 1971. Scott carried with him two special space stamps. On the last day of the trip, he postmarked this cover. Being 238,000 miles (383,024 kilometers) away from Earth made this a unique post in history.

Online sale of rare stamps: If you are interested in philately, eBay is the place to find some of the rarest stamps from Indian postal service.

OneIndia News