Lower Shebelle

Shabeellaha Hoose ( Somali for lower Shabelle; Arab شبيلي السفلى, DMG Šabailī as- sufla ) is a region ( Gobolka ) in southern Somalia with about 1,400,000 inhabitants. Its capital is Merka with about 350,000 inhabitants.

Named the region is named after the River Shabelle, which flows through it. It lies on the Indian Ocean, south of Mogadishu. Previously, she was, as Shabeellaha Dhexe (Middle Shabelle ), part of Benadir region with the state capital Mogadishu as its capital. Other cities and towns next to Merka are Afgooye, Qoryooley, Baraawe, Janaale and Wanlaweyne.

The main Somali clans in Shabeellaha Hoose are the Hawiye and the Biyomaal -Dir, Digil next is a significant minority. Even the ethnic minority of Bantu in Somalia and other small groups are represented here. These ethnic groups speak different dialects of the Somali.

Conflicts and the influx of internally displaced persons from the embattled capital Mogadishu led in 2007 to a deterioration of the food situation in the region, which was traditionally regarded as a " breadbasket of the country."

In Shabeellaha Hoose himself under which the Islamist group al -Shabaab and Hisbul Islam have consolidated their control. The region is largely peacefully under their rule, however, the Islamists also set a strict interpretation of Sharia by.