Talk:Universal Postal Union

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Contents 1 List of members 2 Channel Islands 3 Names of members 4 List of Conventions/Congresses 5 French as Official Language 6 Taiwan 7 IPU 8 World Postal Union?

[edit] List of members

We need to have a list of member nations -- WhiteDragon 15:58, 31 Jan 2005 (UTC)

I just completed the list with members' dates of entry into UPU.--Jusjih 05:14, 26 August 2005 (UTC)

I originally entered members' entry dates in ISO 8601 for easier typing, then an IP changed then to American dates. As UPU uses British dates, I just Anglicized the dates as well.

[edit] Channel Islands

I don't think the Channel Islands are technically part of the United Kingdom. In fact: Crown dependencies are possessions of the British Crown, as opposed to overseas territories or colonies of the United Kingdom. They include the Channel Island bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey and the Isle of Man in the Irish Sea. None forms a part of the United Kingdom, being separate jurisdictions, nor do they form part of the European Union. (from the entry on Crown dependency. This could be mentioned somewhere, as this makes them appear to be part of the UK. The Jade Knight 03:01, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

As the Treaty was concluded before 1951 (the date of the Bevin Declaration), the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man were considered a default part of the United Kingdom in International Law, and were implicitly covered by the UK's accession to the UPU. They did not acceed in any seperate way. As you will note from the Crown Dependency article, the UK has responsibility for the foreign relations of the Crown Dependencies. 136.2.1.101 10:51, 13 February 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Names of members

Should the names be presented according to the official list [1]? — Instantnood 19:13, 25 February 2006 (UTC) We should also perhaps link for philatelic reasons all the past entities that were once members of the UPU but do not exist any longer Cape of Good Hope, Natal etc. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Yannisl (talk • contribs) 10:59, April 27, 2006 (UTC).

Yes, the names should be presented according to the official list. Historical members may be listed if verifiable.--Jusjih 05:49, 28 July 2006 (UTC)

Suggestions on how to add historical members? In the general list, or separately? Let it be noted that with historical members there should be two dates: one for accession / ratification and one for the end of membership. Possibly, it would be good to give the reasons for ending membership. Has anybody any idea how many former members there are? I know of one: Orange Free State, but have to verify accession date. Michel Doortmont (talk) 09:42, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

Took matters ahead. On reflection a separate sub-category seemed the best option to enter former member countries to the membership list. So I created this and added the Orange Free State to it. Note that most probably all the entries here need separate references for accession and stoppage dates, as the UPU website does not provide these. Please add more. Michel Doortmont (talk) 10:42, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

The main problem is that there really does not need to be another long list, just for the sake of listing, on an article page when there is a perfectly good external link available to use and it contains much more information too. Either the article is about the UPU or it is a list of UPU members, but I don't think it can do both effectively. UPU members should either be on a separate list page, or just use the link I gave above. Since it was put there I had been considering removing the list because it seems redundant. The idea of a short category that lists a small number of unusual country listings, such as former members does seem good, unless it gets out of hand, which is unlikely. Cheers ww2censor (talk) 03:53, 3 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] List of Conventions/Congresses

It would be useful to give a full list of the UPU conventions/congresses as well as a link to the convention documents (Final Protocol, Detailed Regulations, etc).

[edit] French as Official Language

What is the history and current status of French as the/an official language of the Union?

At least last time I checked, international postal forms at a post office have the native language(s) -- and French.

How does this relate to the Union being a UN agency now -- with the UN having 6 co-equal administrative languages?

Hu? It's not related at all. The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the UN, and it's official languages are English and French as well. What is the problem? JensMueller 18:16, 30 January 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Taiwan

Need citation for this....

However, writing "Taiwan" rather than "Republic of China" or "ROC" ensures the quickest delivery. Writing "Taiwan, Province of China" may send the mail through mainland China and cause delays.

Our family uses both Taiwan and ROC depending on the receiver's politics and we've never noticed any difference.

Roadrunner 15:41, 7 June 2007 (UTC)

[edit] IPU

When did the International Postal Union become the Universal Postal Union? --Thecurran (talk) 19:05, 21 January 2008 (UTC)

As of 1878, mentioned in the text of the article. Michel Doortmont (talk) 09:39, 2 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] World Postal Union?

Is there article correct in saying the UPU originally was called the "General Postal Union"? According to this is was originally called the "World Postal Union".[2] --MarsRover (talk) 04:50, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

It seems that some people use the term "World Postal Union" but you should really use the most reliable source, the UPU itself which uses the term "General Postal Union" here. Cheers ww2censor (talk) 15:21, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

In agreement: the earlier name was indeed General Posal Union' before it was changed to UPU. My mistake in the comment above. For a source and the text of the original treaty: The Avalon Project at Yale Law School: General Postal Union; October 9, 1874. Michel Doortmont (talk) 15:56, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

Good addition. I have tidied the new link with the appropriate format. Thanks ww2censor (talk) 16:19, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

Never too old to learn, though interesting that you are using a different type of title than an editor who corrected me in the Biography Project pages (namely in the way I reorganised the section heading). Note that I do like this one better. I will add the same link to the Treaty of Bern article and consider adding the text to Wikisource. Michel Doortmont (talk) 18:37, 5 April 2008 (UTC)