ITALIAN EAST AFRICA

ITALIAN EAST AFRICA / AFRICA ORIENTALE ITALIANA
(now Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia).

First Triennial Overseas Exhibition, Naples.
Shebelle River.
Fouth stamp in a set of 7, issued on 11.05.1940.
Face value: 50 cents of Italian lire.
Printing: Photogravure.
Print: 50,000 copies.
Size: 40 x 24 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 47.
- Sassone No. 30.
- Scott No. 30.
- StampWorld No. 47.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 47.
- Unificato No. 30.
- Yvert et Tellier No. 32.

Italian East Africa (Italian: Africa Orientale Italiana, AOI) was an Italian colony in the Horn of Africa. It was formed in 1936 through the merger of Italian Somalia, Italian Eritrea, and the newly occupied Ethiopian Empire, conquered in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. The colony was divided into six governorates. During the Second World War, Italian East Africa was occupied by a British-led force including colonial units and Ethiopian guerrillas in November 1941. After the war, Italian Somalia and Eritrea came under British administration, while Ethiopia regained its independence.

The Shebelle River (Somali: Webi Shabeelle, Arabic: نهر شبيلي, Amharic: እደላ, Italian: Uebi Scebeli), about 2,050 km (1,275 mi) long, 1,150 in Ethiopia and 900 in Somalia, begins in the highlands of Ethiopia, and then flows southeast into Somalia towards Mogadishu. Near Mogadishu, it turns sharply southwest because of the coastal dunes, and it follows the coast. South, the river becomes seasonal; during most years, the river dries up near the mouth of the Jubba River, while in seasons of heavy rainfall, the river actually reaches the Jubba and thus the Indian Ocean.

-
Thanks to Vairo Gregori for his contribution (https://ternifil.org/).

ITALIAN EAST AFRICA

ITALIAN EAST AFRICA / AFRICA ORIENTALE ITALIANA (now Ethiopia, Eritrea, Somalia).

Airmail local motives.
Lake Tana.
Airmail. Seventh stamp in a set of 11, issued on 07.02.1938.
Face value: 2 Italian lire.
Printing: Recess.
Printed by Istituto Poligrafico dello Stato, Officina Carte-Valori, Roma.
Size: 40 x 24 mm.

Catalogs
- Michel No. 27.
- Sassone No. A7.
- Scott No. C7.
- StampWorld No. 27.
- Stanley Gibbons No. 27.
- Unificato No. A7.
- Yvert et Tellier No. PA 7.

Italian East Africa (Italian: Africa Orientale Italiana, AOI) was an Italian colony in the Horn of Africa. It was formed in 1936 through the merger of Italian Somalia, Italian Eritrea, and the newly occupied Ethiopian Empire, conquered in the Second Italo-Ethiopian War. The colony was divided into six governorates. During the Second World War, Italian East Africa was occupied by a British-led force including colonial units and Ethiopian guerrillas in November 1941. After the war, Italian Somalia and Eritrea came under British administration, while Ethiopia regained its independence.

Lake Tana (Amharic: ጣና ሐይቅ) is the largest lake in Ethiopia and the source of the Blue Nile. Located in Amhara Region in the north-western Ethiopian Highlands, the lake is approximately 84 km (52 mi) long and 66 km (41 mi) wide, with a maximum depth of 15 m (49 ft), and an elevation of 1,788 m (5,866 ft). Lake Tana is fed by the Gilgel Abay, Reb and Gumara rivers. Its surface area ranges from 3,000 to 3,500 km² (1,200 to 1,400 sq mi), depending on season and rainfall. The lake level has been regulated since the construction of the control weir where the lake discharges into the Blue Nile. This controls the flow to the Blue Nile Falls (Tis Abbai) and hydro-power station. In 2015, the Lake Tana region was nominated as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve. Lake Tana was formed by volcanic activity, blocking the course of inflowing rivers in the early Pleistocene epoch, about 5 million years ago.

-
Thanks to Vairo Gregori for his contribution (https://ternifil.org/).