Italian East Africa in the context of "Ministry of the Colonies (Italy)"

The Italian colonial empire (Italian: Impero coloniale italiano), sometimes known as the Italian Empire (Impero italiano), was a colonial empire that existed between 1882 and 1960. It comprised the colonies, protectorates, concessions and dependencies of the Kingdom of Italy in the 19th and 20th centuries. At its peak, between 1936 and 1941, the colonial empire in Africa included the territories of present-day Libya, Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia (the last three being officially named "Africa Orientale Italiana", AOI); outside Africa, Italy possessed the Dodecanese Islands (following the Italo-Turkish War), Albania (initially a protectorate, then in personal union from 1939 to 1943) and also had some concessions in China.

The Fascist government that came to power under the leadership of the dictator Benito Mussolini after 1922 sought to increase the size of the Italian empire and it also sought to satisfy the claims of Italian irredentists. Systematic "demographic colonization" was encouraged by the government, and by 1939, Italian settlers numbered 120,000–150,000 in Italian Libya and 165,000 in Italian East Africa.

Italian Eritrea (Italian: Colonia Eritrea, "Colony of Eritrea") was a colony of the Kingdom of Italy in the territory of present-day Eritrea. The first Italian establishment in the area was the purchase of Assab by the Rubattino Shipping Company in 1869, which came under government control in 1882. Occupation of Massawa in 1885 and the subsequent expansion of territory would gradually engulf the region and in 1889 the Ethiopian Empire recognized the Italian possession in the Treaty of Wuchale. In 1890 the Colony of Eritrea was officially founded.

In 1936 the region was integrated into Italian East Africa as the Eritrea Governorate. This would last until Italy's loss of the region in 1941, during the East African campaign of World War II. Italian Eritrea then came under British military administration, which in 1951 fell under United Nations supervision. In September 1952 it became an autonomous part of Ethiopia, until its independence in 1991.

British Somaliland, officially the Somaliland Protectorate (Somali: Maxmiyadda Dhulka Soomaalida), was a protectorate of the United Kingdom in the territory of modern Somaliland. It was bordered by Italian Somalia, French Somali Coast, and the Ethiopian Empire (later part of Italian East Africa from 1936 to 1941).

The territory consisted of self ruled sultanates under British protectorate From 1884 to 1920 before coming under direct Colonial Office administration. Following the defeat of the Dervish forces in 1920, the protectorate was formally established as a Crown colony.

Kufra (/ˈkuːfrə/) is a basin and oasis group in the Kufra District of southeastern Cyrenaica in Libya. At the end of the 19th century, Kufra became the centre and holy place of the Senussi order. It also played a minor role in the Western Desert Campaign of World War II.

It is located in a particularly isolated area, not only because it is in the middle of the Sahara Desert but also because it is surrounded on three sides by depressions which make it dominate the passage of the east-west land traffic across the desert. For the colonial Italians, it was also important as a station on the north-south air route to Italian East Africa. These factors, along with Kufra's dominance of the southeastern Cyrenaica region of Libya, highlight the strategic importance of the oasis and why it was a point of conflict during World War II.

Pietro Badoglio, 1st Duke of Addis Abeba, 1st Marquess of Sabotino (US: /bəˈdoʊljoʊ/ bə-DOH-lyoh, Italian: [ˈpjɛːtro baˈdɔʎʎo]; 28 September 1871 – 1 November 1956), was an Italian general during both world wars and the first viceroy of Italian East Africa. With the fall of the Fascist regime, he became Prime Minister of Italy.

The East African campaign (also known as the Abyssinian campaign) was fought in East Africa during the Second World War by Allies of World War II, mainly from the British Empire, against Italy and its colony of Italian East Africa, between June 1940 and November 1941. The British Middle East Command with troops from the United Kingdom, South Africa, British India, Uganda Protectorate, Kenya, Somaliland, West Africa, Northern and Southern Rhodesia, Sudan and Nyasaland participated in the campaign. These were joined by the Allied Force Publique of Belgian Congo, Imperial Ethiopian Arbegnoch (resistance forces) and a small unit of Free French Forces.

Italian East Africa was defended by the Comando Forze Armate dell'Africa Orientale Italiana (Italian East African Armed Forces Command), with units from the Regio Esercito (Royal Army), Regia Aeronautica (Royal Air Force) and Regia Marina (Royal Navy). The Italian forces included about 250,000 soldiers of the Regio Corpo Truppe Coloniali (Royal Corps of Colonial Troops), led by Italian officers and NCOs. With Britain in control of the Suez Canal, the Italian forces were cut off from supplies and reinforcement once hostilities began.

Eritrea Governorate (Governatorato dell'Eritrea) was one of the six governorates of Italian East Africa. Its capital was Asmara. It was formed from the previously separate colony of Italian Eritrea, which was enlarged with parts of the conquered Ethiopian Empire following the Second Italo-Ethiopian War.