Somalia Governorate was one of the six governorates of

Italian East Africa Italian East Africa ( it, Africa Orientale Italiana, AOI) was an Italian colony in the Horn of Africa. It was formed in 1936 through the merger of Italian Somalia, Italian Eritrea, and the newly occupied Ethiopian Empire, conquered in the S ...

. It was formed from the previously separate colony of

Italian Somalia Italian Somalia ( it, Somalia Italiana; ar, الصومال الإيطالي, Al-Sumal Al-Italiy; so, Dhulka Talyaaniga ee Soomaalida), was a protectorate and later colony of the Kingdom of Italy in present-day Somalia. Ruled in the 19th centur ...

, enlarged by the Ogaden region of the conquered

Ethiopian Empire The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that histori ...

following the

Second Italo-Ethiopian War The Second Italo-Ethiopian War, also referred to as the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, was a war of aggression which was fought between Italy and Ethiopia from October 1935 to February 1937. In Ethiopia it is often referred to simply as the Itali ...

History

The Somalia Governorate lasted from 1936 until 1941. Its administrative capital was

Mogadishu Mogadishu (, also ; so, Muqdisho or ; ar, مقديشو ; it, Mogadiscio ), locally known as Xamar or Hamar, is the capital and most populous city of Somalia. The city has served as an important port connecting traders across the Indian Oc ...

. In 1936, the capital had a population of 50,000 inhabitants, of which nearly 20,000 were

Italian Somalis Italian Somalis ( it, Italo-Somali) are Somali descendants from Italian colonists, as well as long-term Italian residents in Somalia. History In 1892, the Italian explorer Luigi Robecchi Bricchetti for the first time labeled as ''Somalia'' the ...

. By 1941, 30,000 Italians lived in Mogadishu, representing around 33% of the city's total 90,000 residents. They frequented local Italian schools that the colonial authorities had opened, such as the "Liceum". The Italian authorities in 1937 began construction of a paved highway from Mogadishu to

Addis Ababa Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...

, which was completed in 1940. Other roads were started in 1939, from Mogadishu to the northern Somali coast and to the British

Kenya Colony The Colony and Protectorate of Kenya, commonly known as British Kenya or British East Africa, was part of the British Empire in Africa. It was established when the former East Africa Protectorate was transformed into a British Crown colony in ...

to the south. Additionally, there was a project to connect Mogadishu with the

Addis Ababa-Djibouti railway Addis may refer to: Places *Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia **Addis Ababa University Addis Ababa University (AAU) ( am, አዲስ አበባ ዩኒቨርሲቲ) is a national university located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. It is the oldest un ...

, and another to start the construction of an airport on the outskirts of the city. The ports of the capital and of

Kismayo Kismayo ( so, Kismaayo, Maay: ''Kismanyy'', ar, كيسمايو, ; it, Chisimaio) is a port city in the southern Lower Juba (Jubbada Hoose) province of Somalia. It is the commercial capital of the autonomous Jubaland region. The city is situa ...

further south were also slated for enlargement in 1941. However, the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

put a halt to these plans. In the summer of 1940, Italian forces conquered British Somaliland and incorporated it into the Somalia Governorate. British troops later re-seized the territory in March 1941.

Notes

Bibliography

*G. Pini. ''La strada nell’Africa Orientale Italiana'' in “Quaderni italiani serie xv, L’Africa Italiana” n. 4 {{coord missing, Italy Governorates of Italian East Africa History of Somalia

History

See also

Notes

Bibliography