TWINAGERS NEWS 
                                                                                                                                                                          16/03/09
                                                                    The emigration of Italians to African countries

    The emigration of Italians in African countries had already started in the last years of 1800, after the wars of independence, even though the phenomenon has greatly intensified since the second post-war period .

   The countries Italy conquered in West Africa in the 19th Century
   Between the last years of 19th century and the first of 20th century Italy had already conquered Eritrea (the beginning of conquers can be set in November 1869 and lasted until 1941), “Somalia Italiana” (Italian colony from 1905 until 1941 ) and Libya (the colonization departed from 1912 to culminate during the fascism in the 30's and to end in 1946). Then Ethiopia was added to these domains (won in 1936 and subsequently freed by the British in 1941.) forming the “Africa Orientale Italiana” (commonly called AOI).

    How many Italians came to stay in West Africa
     At the end of the Second World War a large number of people who had travelled in these areas for pure military reasons decided to stay there, in the hope of finding fortune (for example in the new diamond mines which had been discovered in those areas). Many people were left there, by their misfortune, as prisoners of war and many people emigrated from Italy in order to reach their relatives.

    The evolution and the situation today
     Emigration levels have remained fairly high until the end of the 60's and the beginning of the 70's . Then the phenomenon stopped and , in some cases, it changed with the return of many people in their areas of origin. According to recent estimates nearly 150,000 people have emigrated since the Second World War to the present day in Africa for all the reasons set out above. Of all these, 80.000 are still present (of which about 38500 recorded at the Consular office) mainly in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, where the major consulates are. The areas from which a greater flow of emigrations started are Piemonte, Veneto, Toscana and Abruzzo.



Useful words :
misfortune : something bad which happens to you (=un Malheur)
freed: libéré
fairly : rather, quite(= plutôt, assez)



                                                                                                                                                            Gianluigi S.Giulio C.Liceo Alessi
                                                                                                                                                    And the students from TES2 Lycée J. Lurçat