The history of mail and postage stamps in Libya is conventionally divided into two main stages in the development of postal communications in the territory of this country, which relate to: 1) the time of the colonial dependence of Libya, including the existence of the Ottoman Empire vilayet and the Italian colony, respectively, as well as the occupation by Great Britain and France; 2) to the post-independence period under the names of the Kingdom of Libya, the Libyan Arab Republic and the Socialist People's Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. Libya has been a member of the Universal Postal Union since 1952.