La Poste Monaco () is the company responsible for

postal service The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal sy ...

microstate A microstate or ministate is a sovereign state having a very small population or land area, usually both. However, the meanings of "state" and "very small" are not well-defined in international law. Some recent attempts to define microstates ...

of the principality of

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

. Despite Monaco being an independent nation, under an agreement with France, the company is a subsidiary of the French post office, Groupe La Poste. La Poste Monaco operates seven post offices at various locations within principality; one in each of the wards of

La Condamine La Condamine (; ) is the central ward and a quartier in the Principality of Monaco. The quartier's landmarks include Port Hercules, the Rainier III Nautical Stadium, and the Princess Antoinette Park. Its farmers' market, at ''Place d'Armes, ...

, Fontvieille,

Les Moneghetti Les Moneghetti ( ) is the north-central ward in the Principality of Monaco, bordering neighboring France. Moneghetti was incorporated in La Condamine. Overview Situated in an area where the Alps drop into the Mediterranean Sea, Les Moneghetti has ...

Monaco-Ville Monaco City ( ; ) is the southcentral ward in the Principality of Monaco. Located on a headland that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, it is nicknamed The Rock (; ). The name "Monaco City" is misleading: it is not itself a city, but a histor ...

and three including the company's headquarters at Palais de la Scala in

Monte Carlo Monte Carlo ( ; ; or colloquially ; , ; ) is an official administrative area of Monaco, specifically the Ward (country subdivision), ward of Monte Carlo/Spélugues, where the Monte Carlo Casino is located. Informally, the name also refers to ...

. The post offices sell typical postal products, such as

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...

s and flat rate envelopes which can be used to send up to 1 kg (2.2 lbs), and envelopes with postage pre-applied. (in French) Post offices in Monaco also offer post box services, They also offer commercial banking services through the French post bank

La Banque Postale La Banque postale (, ) is a French postal bank, created on 1 January 2006 as a subsidiary of La Poste, the national postal service. It has been designated as a Significant Institution since the entry into force of European Banking Supervision ...

with some branches have ATMs, and as a outlet for mobile phone SIM cards for the Monegasque operator,

Monaco Telecom Monaco Telecom is the primary telecommunications provider in the Principality of Monaco. Established in 1997, the company was formed following the government of Monaco's decision to privatize the previously state-owned Office Monégasque des T ...

. Monegasque

post box A post box (British English; also written postbox; also known as pillar box), also known as a collection box, mailbox, letter box or drop box (American English), is a physical box into which members of the public can deposit outgoing mail intend ...

es although they are from the same stock as French post boxes, they are distinctively coloured in the principality's

national colours National colours are frequently part of a country's set of national symbols. Many states and nations have formally adopted a set of colours as their official "national colours" while others have '' de facto'' national colours that have become well ...

of red and white, instead of the yellow of French post boxes. The post boxes also have a notice to mention the fact only Monegasque stamps are valid when using them, despite the rates being the same as in France. La Poste Monaco 1

History

Postal services in Monaco are provided by France, as assured by the Treaty of Péronne in 1641.Duursma, p. 262. ''As the Spanish protectorate became too dominant, the Prince of Monaco concluded the Treaty of Péronne on 14 September 1641 with King Louis XIII of France...'' This relationship has been interrupted twice, with the first interruption occurring during the French Revolution. By Decree of the National Convention on 27 October 1793, the Principality of Monaco was integrated into the territory of France until the passing of the Treaty of Paris on 30 May 1814. The second interruption occurred just shortly after as a result of the Second Treaty of Paris (20 November 1815), which made Monaco a protectorate of the Kingdom of Sardinia. This led to the Monegasque postal system becoming Sardinian from the signing of the Treaty of Stupinigi (taking effect on 1 January 1818) until the signing of the Treaty of Turin on 24 March 1860, again making Monaco a principality of France, and restoring the postal relationship. (in French) Monaco created its first stamps in July 1885 under

Charles III Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. Charles was born at Buckingham Palace during the reign of his maternal grandfather, King George VI, and ...

, however the country's postal service at the time was still technically French. The post office didn't became an independent subsidiary until 1937, under Prince Louis II. Monaco became a member of the

Universal Postal Union The Universal Postal Union (UPU, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) that coordinates postal policies among member nations and facilitates a uniform worldwide postal system. It has 192 member states and is headquartered in Be ...

in 1955, joined

PostEurop PostEurop is the association of European public postal operators, one of the constituent unions of the Universal Postal Union. PostEurop was created in 1993 to simplify the exchange of mail in Europe, a task previously undertaken by the European Co ...

in 1993 and became of founder member of the

Small European Postal Administration Cooperation The Small European Postal Administration Cooperation (SEPAC; also "...Cooperations"; also Small European Postal Administrations Cooperation) is an association of 13 European postal authorities: Åland, the Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Greenland, Guer ...

in 1999.

References

External links

* {{Postal administrations of Europe Communications in Monaco

Philately of Monaco fr:Monaco#Services postaux

History

See also

References

External links