Carta Economica dell’Africa Orientale

Description

Italian map of colonial East Africa with illustrations of local flora and fauna. The map is not overtly political, although background labels and borders do delineate territories like British and Italian Somalia. Addis Ababa is found slightly left of center and various regions of present-day Ethiopia have been marked, including Tigrai.

The map maker uses various colors to paint a picture of the natural ecology of East Africa, including various agricultural zones, deserts, and tropical forests. Economic resources are plotted by use of small illustrations, including sources of diamonds, chalk, incense, and oil.

But the real highlight are the animals: lions, elephants, giraffes, monkeys, crocodiles, and more. These must have been a delight for the map’s originally intended audience, Italians of the Interwar period.