Africa the European powers that laid claim to African territories. The Berlin Conference sought to end the European powers' Scramble for Africa, by agreeing on political division and spheres of influence. They set up the political divisions of the continent, by spheres of interest, that exist in Africa today. Imperial rule by Europeans would continue until after the conclusion of World War II, when almost all remaining colonial territories gradually obtained formal independence. Independence movements in Africa gained momentum following World War II, which left the major European powers weakened. In 1951, Libya, a former Italian colony, gained independence. In 1956,
Italian Studies in Southern Africa (University of South Africa). Italian Studies in Southern Africa Italian Studies in Southern Africa/Studi d’Italianistica nell’Africa Australe is a biannual peer-reviewed academic journal published by the Association of Professional Italianists in South Africa/Associazione di Professori d’Italiano in Sudafrica. It is published in Italian and English and covers the field of Italian studies. The journal is abstracted and indexed in the MLA International Bibliography, Bibliografia Generale della Lingua e della Letteratura Italiana, and "Italinemo". It is listed as a journal qualifying authors for research support by the South African Department of Higher Education and Training and the Australian Research Council. The