Íslandspóstur

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Íslandspóstur hf.

Type	State owned private
Founded	1998
Headquarters	Iceland
Industry	Postal
Revenue	ISK4,964,256 (2005)
Employees	1,300
Website	www.postur.is

Íslandspóstur is the national postal service of Iceland. It dates back to the year 1776 when Christian VII, king of Denmark (and at the time also Iceland) ordered a mail service to be established in the country. Two years later, regular postal sailings begun between Iceland and Denmark, one a year. The first Icelandic postage stamps were published in 1873, and at the same time, the Icelandic postal system was being organised under a special board and the first post offices being established. In 1935, the postal service and the national telephone company were merged under the name Póstur og sími (Post and telephone). In 1998, that governmental company was split up into two companies, Landsími Íslands (the telephone company) and Íslandspóstur. Landsími Íslands has since been privatized. Íslandspóstur has one of the greatest numbers of employees in Iceland, at nearly 1,200. A large number of new post offices throughout the country are being planned at this moment to tighten the distribution net and better the services of the company.