This 1956 stamp shows the provinces that came together to form modern Libya. With an area of almost 1.8 million square kilometers, Libya is the fourth largest country in Africa, and is the 16th largest country in the world.

The area which is now Libya was originally a vilayet of the Ottoman Empire which was ceded to Italy in 1912[1] and became an Italian colony. The sovereign state is made of three historical regions: Tripolitania, Fezzan and Cyrenaica.

Postal stamps have been in use since Libya was part of the Ottoman Empire. Italy established the first main postal outlets in order to ensure some sort of a communication link to its residents in the Ottoman colony in this part of North Africa in 1869.

It was not until independence in 1951 and the unification of the three regions of Libya under the name The United Kingdom of Libya that stamps commemorating Libyan subjects began to appear in print. The stamp depicting this unification was issued on 14th December 1956.

The stamp depicts the map of Libya along with its border. The map of Libya is inscribed with the names of the region which came together to form the country. The map shows the parliament building along with two flags. This 15 Mills stamp is inscribed with the name of the country in Arabic and the denomination value in both Roman and Arabic.

Image Courtesy: https://colnect.com

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