Italian Eritrea

Colony of Eritrea
*Colonia Eritrea* (Italian)
Colony of Eritrea Colonia Eritrea (Italian)
1882–1936
	Flag Coat of arms
	Motto: Per l'onore d'Italia; "For the honour of Italy"
	Anthem: Marcia Reale d'Ordinanza; "Royal March of Ordinance" Marcia Reale
Status	Colony of Italy
Capital	Asmara
Common languages	Italian (official); Italian Eritrean, Tigrinya, Tigre, Kunama, Nara, Saho, Bilen, Hejazi
Religion	Catholicism; Oriental Orthodoxy; Islam
Government	Italian Colonial Government
King
• 1882–1900	Umberto I
• 1900–1936	Victor Emmanuel III
Governor
• 1890 (first)	Baldassarre Orero
• 1935–1936 (last)	Pietro Badoglio
Historical era	New Imperialism
• Purchase of Assab	15 November 1869
• Government control	5 July 1882
• Expansion into Eritrea	5 February 1885
• Treaty of Wuchale	2 May 1889
• Colony of Eritrea	1 January 1890
• Part of Italian East Africa	1 June 1936
• British occupation	19 May 1941
• Relinquished by Italy	10 February 1947
• End of British occupation	15 September 1952
Currency	Eritrean tallero; (1890–1921); Italian lira; (1921–36)
Preceded by	Succeeded by
	Ethiopian Empire
	Khedivate of Egypt
Italian East Africa
Today part of	Eritrea

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.