This set of 34 topographic maps was made in the early 20th century by the Italian armed forces. Italy, a relative latecomer to the scramble by the European powers for African colonies, took control of coastal areas of present-day Eritrea in 1885. The Treaty of Wichale (Uccialli) of 1889 concluded with Emperor Menelik of Ethiopia, gave Italy sovereignty over the territory that the Italians called Eritrea, a name derived from Mare Erythraeum, the Roman designation for the Red Sea. Between 1890 and 1941, Italy sent thousands of settlers to the colony and developed its rail and road transport systems. These maps, used to assist in the colonization effort, came into the possession of the United States Army after World War II. Included in the series is an index map, created by the U.S. Army Map Service in January 1946. The British occupied Eritrea in 1941. At the end of war, Eritrea was federated with Ethiopia, but it became an independent state in 1993.