Italian Eritrea

Italian Eritrea was the first colony of the Kingdom of Italy, the territory on the Red Sea coast of the Horn of Africa shown on the map from 1890 to 1936. Italian presence began with the purchase of Assab Bay from the Rubattino Shipping Company in 1869, which came under government control in 1882; the occupation of Massawa in 1885 and the subsequent expansion of territory gradually engulfed 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: Eritrea was declared an Italian colony in the royal decree of 1 January 1890, n. 6592, with its capital in Massawa, and its first governor was General Baldassarre Orero, replaced a few months later. The next year General Oreste Baratieri occupied the highlands along the Eritrean coast including the town of Asmara, which grew into the colony's later seat. In 1936 the region was integrated into Italian East Africa as the Eritrea Governorate, ending the separate colonial government.