Italian Somaliland

Italian Somalia Somalia Italiana (Italian) Dhulka Soomaalida ee Talyaaniga (Somali) الصومال الإيطالي (Arabic) Al-Sumal Al-Italiy
1889–1936
Flag Coat of arms
Motto: Per l'onore d'Italia "For the honour of Italy"
Anthem: Marcia Reale d'Ordinanza "Royal March of Ordinance"
Italian Somaliland, with Oltre Giuba acquired in 1925
Status	Colony of Italy
Capital	Mogadiscio[1][page needed]
Common languages	Italian (official) Somali, Arabic
Religion	Islam, Roman Catholicism
Demonym(s)	Somali
Government	Colonial Administration
King
• 1889–1900	Umberto I
• 1900–1936	Victor Emmanuel III
Governor
• 1889–1893 (first)	Vincenzo Filonardi
• 1936 (last)	Angelo De Ruben
Historical era	New Imperialism
• Hobyo Protectorate	9 February 1889
• Majeerteen Protectorate	7 April 1889
• Hiraab Protectorate	17 September 1894
• Geledi Protectorate	1902[2]
• Italian Somalia colony	30 April 1908
• Part of Italian East Africa	1 June 1936
• British occupation	26 February 1941
• Relinquished by Italy	10 February 1947
• End of British occupation	1 April 1950
• Somali unification	1 July 1960
Currency	Italian lira (1889–1909) Somali rupia (1909–1925) Somali lira (1925–1938)
Preceded by Succeeded by Sultanate of Hobyo Majeerteen Sultanate Hiraab Imamate Sultanate of the Geledi Italian Trans-Juba Italian East Africa
Today part of	Somalia

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]

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]