Trust Territory of Somaliland
| Trust Territory of Somaliland | ||||||||||
| Amministrazione fiduciaria italiana della Somalia | ||||||||||
| United Nations Trust Territory | ||||||||||
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 Location of the Trust Territory of Somaliland.
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| Capital | Mogadiscio | |||||||||
| Languages | Italian · Somali · Arabic | |||||||||
| Religion | Islam | |||||||||
| Political structure | United Nations Trust Territory | |||||||||
| Administrator | ||||||||||
| • | 1950–1953 | Giovanni Fornari | ||||||||
| • | 1953–1957 | Enrico Martino | ||||||||
| • | 1957–1958 | Enrico Anzillotti | ||||||||
| • | 1958–1960 | Mario di Stefano | ||||||||
| Prime Minister | ||||||||||
| • | 1956–1960 | Abdullahi Issa | ||||||||
| Historical era | Cold War | |||||||||
| • | Established | 1 April 1950 | ||||||||
| • | Independence | 1 July 1960 | ||||||||
| Currency | somalo | |||||||||
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The Trust Territory of Somaliland (officially, the "Trust Territory of Somaliland under Italian administration") was a United Nations Trust Territory situated in present-day northeastern, central and southern Somalia. It was administered by Italy from 1950 to 1960, following the dissolution of the former Italian Somaliland.
In 1941, Italian Somaliland was occupied by British and South African troops as part of the East African Campaign of World War II. The British continued to administer the area until November 1949, when Italian Somaliland was made a Trust Territory by the United Nations, under Italian administration, starting from 1 April 1950.
During the 1950s, with UN aid money pouring in and the presence of experienced Italian administrators who had come to see the region as their home, infrastructural and educational development blossomed in the region. The decade passed relatively without incident, and was marked by positive growth in virtually all aspects of local life.
Indro Montanelli wrote in the late 1990s (when Somalia was devastated by civil war) that the ten years of Italian Trusteeship were the Golden age of Somalia: the population nearly doubled, illiteracy was reduced by 60%, malnutrition in the rural areas disappeared, the economy soared to the same level of the most developed African countries and there was complete integration in religious & social-political matters between all Somalia inhabitants.
The conditional return of Italian administration to southern Somalia gave the new trust territory several unique advantages compared with other African colonies. To the extent that Italy held the territory by UN mandate, the trusteeship provisions gave the Somalis the opportunity to gain experience in political education and self-government. These were advantages that British Somaliland, which was to be incorporated into the new Somali state, did not have. Although in the 1950s British colonial officials attempted, through various development efforts, to make up for past neglect, the protectorate stagnated. The disparity between the two territories in economic development and political experience would cause serious difficulties when it came time to integrate the two parts.
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