Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1921.djvu/1080

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ITALY :— ERITREA

The Italian possessions on the Red Sea are constituted as the Colony of Eritrea, with the management of its own finances and an autonomous administration in 8 commissariats, as follows : —

Commissariat

Hamassen. Massowah. Assab. Acctiele Guzai Serae. ' . Clieren Barca. Gasc and Setit

1,160 5,000 5,500 3,475 3,300 8,800 12,700 5,500

60,234 47,910 3,02(3 62.160 60,311 73.737 58,540 26,9*6

Capital

Asmara Massowah Assab Adi Caieh Adi Ugri Clieren Atrordat Barentu

Military force ; 233 commissioned and non-commissioned officers and 4,030 men, exclusive of 5 native battalions provisionally in service in Tripolitania, Cirenaica, and Italian Somaliland, and exclusive of the police force of the colony.

In the Italian dependencies the central government is represented by a civil governor, who is nominated by the King and is under the direction of the Minister for the Colonies.

Governor. — Marquis G. Cerrina Feroni (1919).

For the financial year 1920-21 the revenue and expenditure of the Colony of Eritrea were estimated at: Colonial revenue, 10,132 040 lire; State contri- bution, 6,650,000 lire ; extraordinary revenue, 5,224,400 lire ; total revenue, 22,006,440 lire ; expenditure, civil administration, 12,049,820 lire; military, 3,857,290 lire ; extraordinary expenditure, 6,099,330 lire ; total .expenditure, 22,006,440 lire.

For climatic and agricultural purposes the country must be dividod into two zones, the lowlands along the sea coasts and in the plains, where the tropical climate is very hot and the rains fall in winter; and the uplands. where the climate is cool and sometimes cold and the rains fall in snniimi. lioth in the lowlands and the uplands the annual rain is sufficient for the successful raiding of the crops. Irrigation works are being carried on in the lower zone in order to facilitate the intensive production of Italian farmers. Pasture is abundant, but the pastoral population is partly nomadic Camels, oxen, sheep, goats, are common, and the produce, consisting of meat, hides, butter, supplies articles of local trade. Pearl-fishing is carried on at Massawah and the Dahlak archipelago to the annual value of from 250,000 lire for pearls and 800,000 lire for mother-of-pearl. A very promising trade is being carried out in palm nuts. The exportation of these nuts in 1917 was 1,089,500 lire. There are gold mines worked successfully in several localities of Ha nasien. Other minerals have recently been found, including petroleum.

At Massawah the imports by land and sea, the exports, and the tonnage

entered were as follows : —

__ —, , , , , , , — - —

I91i

Imports. Lire

Bxrrortt. ,, 14,005,201

Transit ,, -r,/,i7

Tonnage entd. Tons 356,258

1916 (1,047,777 S«7, 'iv

1017

' 1,4 18

167,287

1016

103,811,879 85,254,452 5,415,030

l.'M'V-.