title: Postage stamps and postal history of Paraguay
text: # Postage stamps and postal history of Paraguay
  
  Paraguay gained independence from Spain in 1811.
  
  ## Pre-stamp era
  
  Paraguay operated an internal postal service from 1769 to 1811. Mail travelled from Buenos Aires via Santa Fe and Corrientes to Candelaria and Asuncion.
  
  ## First stamps
  
  The republic of Paraguay issued its first stamps (1, 2, and 3 Reales) on 1 August 1870, featuring a standing lion raising a republican hat, lithographed by R. Lange (Buenos Aires).
  
  