At last we have some real information about what is happening to the mail within Iraqi Kurdistan, and about the use of Kurdish postage stamps which have been appearing since 1992. It is now evident that only the KDP [Kurdish Democratic Party] faction based in Erbil issue postage and revenue stamps for use in Kurdistan only.i.e. - postage stamps can only be used as 'locals'. They are printed in Erbil and because of the shortages of paper on which the stamps have been printed they are quite varied, even within an issue
It is forbidden to send mail directly to other parts of Iraq from within the Kurdish region - it must travel via Turkey. Forged post-marks have been found on mail sent from Kurdistan to other areas in Iraq and this was one reason for banning direct mail.

When posting mail to areas abroad from the Kurdish region Turkish stamps, which are on sale at the Kurdish post offices, must be used. Mail is then sent in bags to Turkey and distributed via Turkish Post.

In order to receive mail from outside the Kurdish region the Kurds have hired about thirty Post Office boxes in Turkey. To send a letter to Kurdistan from abroad the sender should put the mail addressed to the recipient within another cover addressed to Kurdistan via the Turkish Post Office. Mail addressed to Kurdistan is then sent in bags to the main Kurdish Post Office where the outer covers are removed and the letters distributed to the addresses on the inner covers.

In actual fact there is little mail communication with the area. Kurds from the area living in the United States and Europe tend to communicate with family in that area of Iraq by telephone, fax, and email. Iraqi Kurds in the U.S. use a U.K. based telephone provider.
Two Revenue stamps were issued during the latter months of 2000. [Picture] Two others were issued in the following months - see Revenue page for more details.


Here is a link to an old page of Kurdish website with a few details about Kurdish stamps and post offices.
Click here You can also link to the Kurdish Regional Government website. Note that the link to me at the top of the page is now redundant.

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The stamps shown below first appeared in 1993 when the overprinted 1977 Iraq issue of The Dome of The Rock [SG1291 - ScottRA23 - Mi912] was issued. Another set of stamps showing the Kurdistan National Assembly Building was issued simultaneously - according to the FDC's, both issues of which are dated 4th June 1993 - and the margins of the sheets of 'Kurdish Assembly Building' set has, in English and in bold print, THE FIRST EVER KURDISH POSTAGE STAMP [Picture] and each stamp value shows the date in English - 1993 at the top and 1992 at the bottom! Later issues showed 1993 at top and bottom.[Strictly speaking the first Kurdish postage stamps were the 'Sheikh Mahmoud' issues of 1923]
In the early months of the year 2000 the perforating machine in Erbil broke down and imperforate sets were offered for sale for a while, then stamps with terribly rough perforations appeared.
Also please note that latest information is that only the first two issues are actually officially valid for postage, and although later issues can be found on covers they should be considered more as for philatelic consumption - rather like some of the Gulf States issues during the late 1960's and early 1970's, but even these "sand-dunes" as they were contemptuously known in the US, have survived over 30 years and are now sought after again. I have been able to acquire a few genuine postally used covers from Iraqi Kurdistan affixed with Kurdish postage stamps & with local cancellations, and also some 'philatelic covers' - not FDC's - with handwritten addresses,Kurdish stamps & cancellations. Ask for details if interested.

1] 4th June SG1291 ‘Dome of The Rock’ with a vertical, usually quite faint, One Dinar overprint. There are 2 types,the difference being in the length [or rather the height] of the overprint. FDC’s with a rectangular cancellation ARAIL P.O. 4 JUN 1993 were also issued. Price shown is for 2 stamps, one of each type. [Picture] Price £3.50...$5.25...€ 5.95

2] 4th June 1993. ‘National Assembly of Kurdistan Building’. Stamps with Arabic and English script and inscribed ‘National Assembly of Kurdistan 4/6/1992’ on the bottom but with the date 1993 on the top. 2 stamps with peelable backing, values 2 ID and 3 ID, with same view of Kurdish National Assembly Building. ID blue and white, 3ID green, yellow, & white.[Picture] I have so far received the self adhesive sets with rough perfs. 10.5 X 10.5, and also part sheets ungummed no backing paper but with both dates shown as 1993. with a 1 ID value also in grey and white. The ungummed 2ID & 3 ID values are lighter colours than those with backing paper.[Picture] A FDC was issued with rectangular ARAIL P.O. 4 JUN 1993 - the same canceller as used on the ‘Dome of The Rock’ FDC. Price: £3.50...$5.25...€ 5.95 per set for Peelable backing set of 2...&...£4.00...$6.00...€ 6.80 for ungummed set of 3

3] Overprint on SG1891 [15th Oct. 1989] Tourism issue showing Arbil [Erbil as we know it] and Kurdish girls in colourful Kurdish dresses. Overprints are applied either horizontally or vertically & usually are very faint. Here's an enlargement of both stamps with the 2 overprints [Picture] Price..£2.00...$3.00...€ 3.40 per stamp

4] 14/3/1997. Stamp showing Serok Barzani [1903 - 1979] the leader of the Kurdish rebels for many years. 3 identical stamps with different values of 1 ID, 2 ID, 5 ID. Greyish brown photograph on blue background. Rough perfs. All values printed within one sheet.[Picture] Price..£3.50...$5.25...€ 5.95

5] 11/9/1997 Hawler [Erbil] , Capital of Kurdistan. 4 stamps with same design. 1 ID brown, 2 ID blue, 5 ID black/grey, 5 ID yellow. The yellow 5 ID is described as very rare by my supplier. This could be true, as sets from another source did not include the 5 ID value.The black 5 ID It is of a higher quality than the other 3 stamps which seem to have gum brushed onto them [as do the stamps of the Serok Barzani issue] and has cleaner perfs and even gum. Perf. 10.5[Picture] Price.for set of 3[no 5ID yellow]...£4.25...$6.00...€ 7.20 Sets of 4 which include rare 5ID ..£14.00...$20.00...€ 23.80

6] 21/3/1998 Spring Festival. One mulicoloured stamp, value 2 ID. Clean and even perforations 11 X 11. Gum again appears to be brushed on to the back of the sheets but a better job has been made than on the previous issues. Perf. 10.75[Picture] Price..£1.50p...$2.25...€ 2.55

7] April 1998. ‘Calender Day Memory’ is how this issue is described by my correspondent. A 1 ID stamp with head & shoulders portrait of a man. The numbers 22 and 100 are printed in red and a date April 1998 in purple. Again, rough perfs around 11 X 11 & brushed gum. [Picture] £1.50...$2.25...€ 2.55

8] Thematic set of 4. Issued late 1998. Multicoloured. 1 ID shows grouse/partridge type bird, 2 ID a mountain goat, 3 ID a freshwater fish, 4 ID a tree. Perf 11 X 11 [Picture] Price...£3.70...$5.55...€ 6.30

9] Kurdish Cities. Set of 4 issued late 1998. Arabic & Kurdish script. Perf 10.75 [Picture] Price....£3.70...$5.55...€ 6.30

10] Kurdish Monuments. Set of 4 issued late 1998. Arabic & Kurdish script. Perf. 10.5[Picture] Price....£3.70...$5.50...€ 6.30

11] Kurdish Costumes or "Kurdistanian Fashions". 4 Stamps issued 1999 showing men & women in different Kurdistani costumes. [Picture] Price...£4.60...$6.90...€ 7.80

12] Kurdish Costumes. Second set of 4 depicting different "Kurdistanian Fashions". Also dated 1999 & same values [1ID, 2ID, 3ID, 5ID][Picture] Price...£4.60...$6.90...€ 7.80

13] 15/11/99 Kurdish TV Satellite Channel. Set of 4. The date is printed in English but as in Arabic i.e. from right to left 1999-11-15 [Picture] Price...£3.70...$5.55...€ 6.30

Suddenly large sets of stamps began to appear, starting with a set of 20 'Flowers'. These were printed se-tenant within sheets of different values [1ID, 2ID, 3ID, 5ID]. Most peculiarly 2 of the 3ID se-tenant pairs were of a flower and a building! Stamps are sold as a set of 20 Flowers + 2 Buildings. [Picture].All the stamps had the date '1999' in English printed on them and the 5ID values had the word 'POSTAGE' printed as 'POTAGE'[Picture]. These are being sold as errors on web auction sites.

14] 1999 - Flowers set of 20 stamps plus 2 buildings![Picture] Price...£16.50...$25.00

15] Serok Barzani 5ID stamp showng year 1999 with mis-spelt postage as 'POTAGE'.Has been seen offered as an error, but the whole printing had this error![Picture] Price...£2.30...$3.45...€ 3.90

16] 2000 Technology set of 7 [Picture] Issued imperf. when perfing machine broke down. Also available perforate - perfs. are very rough. To see example of just how rough, look at [Picture] Unavailable

17] 2000 Set of 6. I don't know what this set signifies, but as a couple of stamps show children I'll call it "Children". Available both perf. & imperf...[Picture] Unavailable

18] 2000 Set of 4. 3 butterflies and a bee...[Picture] Price...Perf:..unavailable.....Imperf:..£3.50...$5.25...€ 5.95

19] 2000 Set of 16 people. Example shown of each value [4 values in the set]..[Picture] Unavailable

20] 2000 Set of 7 depicting farm animals & birds & produce plus a bird of prey. 5 stamps shown in [Picture]The other 2 stamps show melons & cucumbers. Unavailable

21] 2000 Set of 8 stamps. 4 designs each with a value of 2ID & 5ID. 2 stamps show bearded gents, others show a tomato vine and a cockerel. One of each design shown in [Picture] Unavailable

22] An imperf. 165mm X 120mm [6.5ins X 5ins] miniature sheet showing 6 stamps from various issues. [Picture] £6.60...$9.90...€ 11.22

23] In February 2002 the following 24 stamps appeared. The print quality, centering, and in some cases the perforations show a marked improvement over the preceding issues. [Picture] Please email for quotation of price of this set.

24]...REVENUES In the latter months of 2000 two revenue stamps for use in Iraqi Kurdistan only were issued, and in early 2001 two higher values were issued....[Picture] see Revenues page for details.

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