"Italy", formally the "Kingdom of Italy", and to some the "New Roman Empire" is a Fascist State located in Central Europe.
The Second World War
Italy at the start of the Second World War, was neutral. Mussolini wanted to see which way the war would turn, and join the winning side when he knew for sure that that side would win.
In 1941, seeing the success of Operation Barbarossa, Italy invaded Egypt, swiftly taking it over as the Italian force outnumbered the British 10 to 1.
1948 Nazi-Italian Split
Further information: Mussolini-Hitler split
The empire distanced itself from the Nazis in 1948 (European Community, Berlin Pact, etc.) and started to build its own way to fascism under the strong political leadership of Benito Mussolini. The country criticised both the Nazi Bloc and the American Defense Community nations and, together with other countries (mainly Ireland and Spain), started the Non-Aligned Movement in 1961, which remains the official affiliation of the country to this day.
The Empire
The Italian Empire spanned from Savoy to Somalia. Much of this area has had Italians become a majority, with the best case being Libya.
Libya
Libyans are very much a minority nowadays. With the Italian population already reaching majority status before the war, the opening up of Libya to European refugees made the non-Libyan population swell up. Tunis, Tripolitania and Wyrenaica were directly annexed by Italy, with the rest of the land being a colony. The Italian Economy grew exponentially with the discovery of Oil in the 1970's.