Italian communities once thrived in the former African colonies of Eritrea (nearly 100,000 at the beginning of World War II), Somalia and Libya (150,000 Italians settled in Libya, constituting about 18% of the total population).
義大利人以前曾興盛的社區包括前非洲殖民地的厄利垂亞（在第二次世界大戰開始時約有近10萬人）、索馬利亞與利比亞（有150,000義大利人定居在利比亞，佔約總人口的18％）。