Italian refugees from Libya Italy and soon most of them emigrated in the early 1950s to the Americas (mainly to Canada, Venezuela, Argentina and the United States) and to western Europe (France, Benelux, etc..). After several years under British mandate, on December 24, 1951 Libya declared its independence as the United Kingdom of Libya (a constitutional, hereditary monarchy under King Idris). In 1952 started the exodus of most of the remaining Italian colonial settlers, mainly those in areas away from the main cities. Although in the late 1950s most of the 110000 Italians living in 1940 Italian Libya had already left the former colony,
Land mines in North Africa Land mines in North Africa This article discusses the problem represented by land mines in North Africa, the consequent suffering of its peoples, and how the countries in the region deal with this problem. On 10 June 1940, during World War II, Italy declared war on Great Britain and France. This declaration included the Italian colonies and colonists already located in Africa. The Italians initially attacked Egypt, and the British, allied to the Egyptians by the 1936 treaty, counterattacked and occupied Cyrenaica. The Italians asked for help from their German allies; as a result, the Germans entered the North African