Bulgarian Posts is the national postal service of Bulgaria. The company has a long history, dating back to when Bulgaria gained independence from Ottoman rule. Its predecessor, the Bulgarian Post, and Telecommunications Company, was founded as the Bulgarian Post and Telegraph. One thousand eight hundred seventy-nine all postal and telegraph facilities were transferred to the newly restored Bulgarian state, and the Bulgarian Post and Telegraph joined the General Postal Union that same year. Bulgarian Posts was established in 1992 and became a joint-stock company in 1997, though the state still owns it. In 2005, the company operated 3,008 post offices and maintained a total length of 80,060 km of postal routes. It held a monopoly in the country for providing universal postal services until 2006.