Italian Somaliland

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Italian Somaliland was an Italian colony that lasted, apart from a brief interlude of British rule, from the late 19th century until 1960 in the territory of the modern-day East African nation of Somalia.

Italy gained control of various parts of Somalia in the 1880s and, over the ensuing decades, Italian settlement was encouraged. In 1936, after the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, Italian Somaliland became part of the Italian African Empire, along with Ethiopia, Eritrea and Libya.

In 1941, the area was occupied by British troops, and the British continued to administer the area until November 1949, when Italian Somaliland was made a United Nations Trust Territory under Italian administration.

On 1 July 1960, Italian Somaliland was granted its independence. It immediately united with neighbouring British Somaliland (which had become independent on 26 June) to form the Republic of Somalia.

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