thumb|upright=1.3|A Mail carrier|postman collecting mail for delivery in [[Hong Kong, 2008]]
AI overview
Mail is the system of collecting and delivering written messages and packages from senders to recipients, typically handled by postal workers like the mail carrier shown here. It matters because it enables people to communicate and send physical items across distances, serving as a fundamental infrastructure for personal correspondence, business transactions, and official documents.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Article
32 sectionsContents
- Etymology
- History
- Iran
- India
- Rome
- Vietnam
- China
- Mongol Empire
- Japan
- Korea
- Other systems
- Thurn und Taxis
- Postal reforms
- Modern transport and technology
- Modern mail
- Organization
- Payment {{anchor |postage}}
- Privacy and censorship
- Rise of electronic correspondence
- Collecting
- Deregulation
- Types
- Letters
- First-Class
- Repositionable notes
- Postal cards and postcards
- Other mail services
- Business model
- See also
- Notes
- Further reading
- External links
thumb|upright=1.3|A Mail carrier|postman collecting mail for delivery in [[Hong Kong, 2008]]
The mail or post is a system for physically transporting postcards, letters, and parcels. A postal service can be private or public, though many governments place restrictions on private systems. Since the mid-19th century, national postal systems have generally been established as a government monopoly, with a fee on the article prepaid. Proof of payment is usually in the form of an adhesive postage stamp, but a postage meter is also used for bulk mailing.