07.10.2013

192 member countries of the Universal Postal Union will celebrate World Post Day on 09 October for the 44^th time already. Latvijas Pasts, popularising the traditional postal services, invites everyone to take part in the international postcard mailing project Postcrossing on this day.

This time Latvijas Pasts will again provide the gathering postcrossers with the postcards, enabling them to mail their messages to their unknown pen-friends. Those who only plan to join the international postcrossers’ movement will have an opportunity to register in the project and mail their first postcards.

Latvijas Pasts has participated in the international project Postcrossing since 2010, and within a period of less than two years it has received more than 360 unique postcards. The total distance that was travelled by the postcards mailed by Latvijas Pasts exceeds 1.2 million km.

Almost 441,000 people from 218 countries of the world take part in the international project Postcrossing; it is 25,000 more than six months ago. Participants in the postcrossing movement all over the world have received more than 19.5 million postcards. The total distance the postcards have travelled is more than 101 billion kilometres.

At present there are almost 2500 participants in the Postcrossing project in Latvia; they have mailed 105,300 postcards in total. Thus Latvia takes 30^th place in the world according to the number of postcards mailed within the framework of the project. First place in the world is taken by the USA with more than two million mailed postcards.

Postcrossing is an interesting combination of modern and traditional features, because by means of the Internet any participant in the project can receive and mail tangible postcards from and to different places in the world. By mailing a postcard, the sender can be sure that he/she will receive at least one postcard in return from the postcrosser who, perhaps, lives very far away.

Anyone who would like to find new pen-friends and develop a unique collection of postcards received from different countries in the world can take part in the project Postcrossing. By registering at the website www.postcrossing.com and receiving an unknown addressee’s address, the new user mails the first postcard. When the postcard has been mailed, you can expect to receive your first postcard. When the postcard has been received, it shall be registered at the website www.postcrossing.com, and you can search for the next pen-friend to whom you can mail a postcard.

The Universal Postal Union was founded on 09 October 1874, and it is the second oldest international organisation in the world, with its headquarters in Bern, Switzerland.

About SJSC Latvijas Pasts

Latvijas Pasts ensures the widest availability of postal services throughout Latvia by maintaining more than 600 post offices. The primary function of the company is provision of the universal postal service; Latvijas Pasts also provides commercial transport, express mail, payment, press subscription, retail and philatelic services. Latvijas Pasts is a fully State-owned company with more than 4,200 employees.

Additional information

Agija Tērauda
Public Relations Specialist
Phone: +371 67608506
E-mail: agija.terauda@pasts.lv
twitter.com/latvijas_pasts; facebook.com/latvijas.pasts