Italian Africa

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 empire in Africa included the territories of present-day Libya, Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia (the latter three officially grouped under the name Africa Orientale Italiana, AOI). Outside Africa, Italy controlled the Dodecanese Islands, Albania, and territories in China (only their concession in Tianjin was under full control in their Chinese territories). During World War II, the empire exercised control over four puppet states and occupied several additional territories.