Italian East Africa (Italian: Africa Orientale Italiana, or AOI) was an Italian colony established in 1936, resulting from the merger of the Ethiopian Empire (conquered during the Second Italo-Ethiopian War) with the old colonies of Italian Somaliland and Italian Eritrea.

In August 1940, during the Second World War, British Somaliland was conquered and annexed to Italian East Africa, which itself was conquered by British-led forces in the course of 1941. The Ethiopian Empire and British Somaliland were then re-established, while Italian Somaliland and Eritrea both came under British administration. In 1949 Italian Somaliland was reconstituted as the Trust Territory of Somalia, which was administered by Italy from 1949 until its independence in 1960. In 1952 Eritrea was annexed by Ethiopia.

When established in 1936, Italian East Africa covered the former Italian Eritrea and Italian Somaliland and the recently conquered Ethiopia. King Victor Emmanuel III of Italy consequently adopted the title of "Emperor of Abyssinia". The colony was divided into the six governorates of Italian East Africa: Italian Eritrea and Italian Somaliland, plus four provinces of Ethiopia (Amhara, Galla-Sidamo, Scioa, Harar) each under the authority of an Italian governor, answerable to the Italian viceroy, who represented the Emperor Victor Emmanuel.

East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:

East Africa is often used to specifically refer to the area now comprising the countries of Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda, and, in a wider sense, also Burundi, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Rwanda, South Sudan, and Somalia (including the self-declared republic of Somaliland)

Egypt and Sudan are also in the northeastern portion of the continent, but are usually included in Northern Africa.

Some parts of East Africa have been renowned for their concentrations of wild animals, such as the "big five" of elephant, buffalo, lion, leopard and black rhinoceros, though populations have been declining under increased stress in recent times, particularly the rhino and elephant.

The geography of East Africa is often stunning and scenic. Shaped by global plate tectonic forces that have created the East African Rift, East Africa is the site of Mount Kilimanjaro and Mount Kenya, the two tallest peaks in Africa. It also includes the world's second largest freshwater lake Lake Victoria, and the world's second deepest lake Lake Tanganyika.