| Íslandspóstur hf. | |
| Foundation: | 1873 (original)1935 (merger with landssìmì) 1998 (split) |
| Location: | Iceland |
Íslandspóstur or simply Pósturinn 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 began between Iceland and Denmark, once 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, Landssími Íslands (the telephone company) and Íslandspóstur. Landssími Íslands has since been privatized. Íslandspóstur has one of the greatest numbers of employees in Iceland, at nearly 1,200. Many new post offices throughout the country are being planned to widen the distribution net and better the services of the company.
Íslandspóstur is a member of the Small European Postal Administration Cooperation.
Besides other services Íslandspóstur offers a different service than the basic postal service and often it is in competition with the private sector.