In 1936, after the defeat of
Ethiopia, Italy created an empire in Africa called
Africa Orientale Italiana (
Italian East Africa). It lasted for six years, until
World War II, and was made of six governorates. One of these was the Eritrea Governorate. The original
Italian Eritrea, sometimes called
Colonia primogenita (First Colony), was enlarged by with territories ("Tigrai") taken from northern
Ethiopia that were populated mostly by ethnic
Eritreans. In 1938 the Eritrea Governorate was divided in 13 "commissariati" (provinces) •
Commissariato dell'Acchelè Guzai (capital
Addì Caièh) •
Commissariato di Adigrat (capital
Adigràt) •
Commissariato dell'Hamasien (capital
Asmára) •
Commissariato del Bassopiano Occidentale (capital
Agordàt) •
Commissariato del Bassopiano Orientale (capital
Massáua) •
Commissariato di Cheren (capital
Chéren) •
Commissariato della Dancalia (capital
Ássab) •
Commissariato di Macallè (capital
Macallè) •
Commissariato dei Paesi Galla (capital
Allomatà) •
Commissariato del Seraè (capital
Áddi Ugrì) •
Commissariato del Tembien (capital
Abbì Addì) •
Commissariato del Tigrai Occidentale (capital
Ádua) The Eritrea Governorate in 1938 had an area of and a population of more than 1,500,000 - of which nearly 100,000 were
Italian colonists concentrated in
Asmara. Massawa was the port of the Italian
Colony of Eritrea and was hugely improved and enlarged as a part of Italian East Africa. Eritrea was chosen by the Italian government to be the industrial center of Italian East Africa. The Italian government implemented agricultural reforms, primarily on farms owned by Italian colonists. Exports of coffee boomed in the 1930s. In the region of Asmara there were in 1940 more than 2,000 small and medium-sized industrial companies, concentrated in the areas of
construction,
mechanics,
textiles,
electricity, and
food processing. According to the Italian census of 1939 the city of Asmara had a population of 98,000, of which 53,000 were
Italians. This made Asmara the main "Italian town" of the
Italian empire in
Africa. Furthermore, because of the Italian architecture of the city, Asmara was called
Piccola Roma (Little Rome). In all of the Eritrea Governorate there were more than 75,000 Italians in 1939. Consequently, the living standard of life in Eritrea in 1939 was considered one of the best in Africa, for both the Italian colonists and the native Eritreans. In early 1940 laws were established that enabled all the autochthonous Eritreans in the Italian military forces to receive a pension for their families; no other European colonial country granted this at that time. In the summer of 1940, with Italy's entry into World War II, the Italians conquered the area of
Kassala in British
Sudan and annexed it. The mayor of Kassala was the Eritrean hero
Hamid Idris Awate. The
Allies invaded and conquered Italian East Africa in the
East African campaign of World War II. The last Italian governor of Eritrea,
Luigi Frusci, surrendered the governorate to the Allies on 19 May 1941. Italian East Africa came under
British occupation, and the British abolished the Eritrea Governorate and created a military occupation government associated with Ethiopia's
negus (king). ==Governors==