The history of Indonesian mail and stamps covers the development of postal services in Indonesia, a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania consisting of 17,508 islands with its capital in Jakarta. This history can be roughly divided into stages corresponding to colonial dependence (1800-1942), Japanese occupation (1942-1945), national liberation struggle (1945-1949) and Indonesian independence since 1945. Postage stamps in Indonesia have been in circulation since colonial times - since 1864, and in 1877 the country joined the Universal Postal Union.