Italian Somaliland
Italian Somaliland (Italian: Somalia Italiana; Arabic: الصومال الإيطالي, romanized: Al-Sumal Al-Italiy; Somali: Dhulka Soomaalida ee Talyaaniga) was a protectorate and later colony of the Kingdom of Italy in present-day Somalia. Ruled in the 19th century by the Somali Sultanates of Hobyo and Majeerteen in the north, and in the south by political entities such as the Hiraab Imamate and Geledi Sultanate.[3]
Not to be confused with British Somaliland or the de facto independent state of Somaliland.
Italian Somalia
9 February 1889
7 April 1889
17 September 1894
1902[2]
30 April 1908
1 June 1936
26 February 1941
10 February 1947
1 April 1950
1 July 1960
Italian lira
(1889–1909)
Somali rupia
(1909–1925)
Somali lira
(1925–1938)
Italy gradually secured much of the territory in the 1880s through a series of protection treaties.[4] Starting in the 1890s, the Bimaal and Wa'dan revolts near Merca marked the beginning of Somali resistance to Italian expansion, coinciding with the rise of the anti-colonial Dervish movement in the north.[5] By the end of 1927, following a two year military campaign against Somali rebels, Rome finally asserted authority over the entirety of Italian Somaliland.[6]
In 1936, the region was integrated into Italian East Africa as the Somalia Governorate. This would last until Italy's loss of the region in 1941, during the East African campaign of World War II. Italian Somalia then came under British military administration until 1950, when it became a United Nations trusteeship, the Trust Territory of Somalia under Italian administration. On 1 July 1960, the Trust Territory of Somalia united with the former British Somaliland to form the Somali Republic.[7]