Polity · 1890 CE – 1943 CE
Italian Africa
Impero coloniale italiano
- Peak recorded area
- 3,516,180 km²
- 1940 CE
- Data series
- 38
- 1890 CE–1943 CE
Overview
The Italian colonial empire, sometimes known as the Italian Empire, was a colonial empire that existed between 1882 and 1960. It comprised the colonies, protectorates, concessions and dependencies of the Kingdom of Italy in the 19th and 20th centuries. At its peak, between 1936 and 1941, the empire in Africa included the territories of present-day Libya, Eritrea, Somalia and Ethiopia. Outside Africa, Italy controlled the Dodecanese Islands, Albania, and territories in China.
Lead section from Wikipedia, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read the article.
Territory
17 dated territorial extents on record from Cliopatria. Areas are measured off the recorded polygons; the line steps because each extent holds until the next one is recorded — nothing is interpolated.
The record
The best-attested series in each category; where several projects publish the same quantity, the one with the most observations is shown. Each row is the most recent value the record holds at or before 1943 CE, shown with the year that value belongs to. Some statistical series also publish forward projections — the year column is the honest guide. Nothing on this page is interpolated or estimated by us.
People
3 of 4 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Population54 obs · 1890 CE–1943 CE | 45.2Mpersons1943 CE · Maddison Project Database 2023 |
| Urban Population54 obs · 1890 CE–1943 CE | 8.7Mpersons1943 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Community Size | 4ordinal1940 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
Economy
6 of 12 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| GDP per capita54 obs · 1890 CE–1943 CE | 3,9312011 int'l $1943 CE · Maddison Project Database 2023 |
| GDP per capita PPP54 obs · 1890 CE–1943 CE | 5,586int'l $ (inflation adj.)1943 CE · Gapminder |
| Total Exports54 obs · 1890 CE–1943 CE | 0million USD (current)1943 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Total Imports54 obs · 1890 CE–1943 CE | 0million USD (current)1943 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Trade Balance54 obs · 1890 CE–1943 CE | 0million USD (current)1943 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
| Trade Openness54 obs · 1890 CE–1943 CE | 0million USD (current)1943 CE · CoW Bilateral Trade v4.0 |
Military
6 of 10 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| CINC Score54 obs · 1890 CE–1943 CE | 0.0219CINC (share of world capability)1943 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Energy Consumption54 obs · 1890 CE–1943 CE | 3.4Mcoal-ton equivalents1943 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Iron Steel Production54 obs · 1890 CE–1943 CE | 1.7Mtons1943 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Personnel53 obs · 1890 CE–1943 CE | 1.7Mpersons1943 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Expenditure30 obs · 1914 CE–1943 CE | 413Mcurrent USD1943 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
| Military Expenditure GBP24 obs · 1890 CE–1913 CE | 40.4Mcurrent GBP1913 CE · Correlates of War NMC v6.0 |
Territory & resources
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Coal Production44 obs · 1900 CE–1943 CE | 16.71TWh1943 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Gas Production44 obs · 1900 CE–1943 CE | 0TWh1943 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
| Oil Production44 obs · 1900 CE–1943 CE | 0.128TWh1943 CE · Our World in Data Energy |
Governance
6 of 7 series| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Electoral Democracy Index54 obs · 1890 CE–1943 CE | 0.054index (0-1)1943 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Liberal Democracy Index54 obs · 1890 CE–1943 CE | 0.032index (0-1)1943 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Participatory Democracy Index54 obs · 1890 CE–1943 CE | 0.008index (0-1)1943 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Rule Of Law Index54 obs · 1890 CE–1943 CE | 0.276index (0-1)1943 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Regime Type44 obs · 1900 CE–1943 CE | 0RoW index (0-3)1943 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Jurisdictional Hierarchy2 obs · 1939 CE–1940 CE | 2ordinal1940 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
Development
| Series | Value · year · source |
|---|---|
| Freedom Of Expression Index54 obs · 1890 CE–1943 CE | 0.032index (0-1)1943 CE · V-Dem v15 |
| Class Stratification | 1ordinal1939 CE · D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock) |
Language & currency
- Official & national languages
- Italian
Memberships
- League of NationsLoNInternational organisation · founding member1920 CE – 1937 CE
Sources
Every figure above comes from one of these. Nothing on this page is estimated, interpolated or model-generated.
Seshat Global History Databank. Cliopatria: a historical basemap of polity borders (cliopatria.geojson).
Correlates of War NMC v6.0v6.0
Singer, J.D. (1987). National Material Capabilities Data (NMC), v6.0. Correlates of War Project.
Free academic use, citation
Barbieri, K. & Keshk, O. (2016). Correlates of War Project Trade Data Set, v4.0.
Free academic use, citation
D-PLACE Ethnographic Atlas (Murdock)Ethnographic Atlas (D-PLACE 2.3)
Kirby, K.R. et al. (2016). D-PLACE: A Global Database of Cultural, Linguistic and Environmental Diversity. PLoS ONE 11(7).
CC BY 4.0
Gapminderv14 / systema globalis
Gapminder Foundation. Gapminder systema globalis dataset.
CC BY 4.0
Maddison Project Database 20232023
Bolt, J. & van Zanden, J.L. (2024). Maddison Project Database 2023. University of Groningen GGDC.
CC BY 4.0
Our World in Data (2024). Energy dataset. Based on Energy Institute & Ember.
CC BY 4.0
V-Dem v15v15
Coppedge, M. et al. (2025). V-Dem Country-Year Dataset v15. Varieties of Democracy Project.
Free academic/non-commercial use, attribution
Wikipedia contributors. Article lead sections, reused under CC BY-SA 4.0.
CC BY-SA 4.0
Italian Africa is one of the polities with a sourced record deep enough to publish.