Shebelle River in the context of "Somali Bantu"

Afgooye (Somali: Afgooye, Arabic: أفجويى, Italian: Afgoi) is a town in the southeastern Somalia Lower Shebelle (Shabellaha Hoose) region of Somalia. It is the center of the Afgooye District. Afgooye is the third largest city of Southwest State. Afgooye is one of the oldest towns on the lower Shebelle valley, 30 kilometers north of Mogadishu. Afgooye is the site of Lafoole college, the first college of education in Somalia, built on the site of the battle of Lafoole of 1896. Afgooye is also known for the Istunka, the annual "stick fight" carnival commemorating the New Year in the riverine region. It was a trade center for the Silcis Dynasty in the medieval period then fell under Ajuran rule. Around the late 17th century, Afgooye became the capital of Geledi Sultanate.

The Rahanweyn (Maay: Reewin, Somali: Raxanweyn, Arabic: رحنوين), also known as the Digil and Mirifle (Somali: Digil iyo Mirifle) is a major Somali clan. It is one of the major Somali clans in the Horn of Africa, with a large territory in the densely populated fertile valleys of the Jubba and Shebelle rivers and the areas inbetween, which are mainly inhabited by settlers from the Digil and Mirifle lineages.

Banaadir (Somali: Banaadir, Arabic: بنادر, Italian: Benadir) is an administrative region (gobol) in southeastern Somalia. It covers the same area as the city of Mogadishu, which serves as the capital. It is the only region in the country not belonging to any of the seven states. It is bordered to the northwest by the Shabelle river and to the southeast by the Indian Ocean.

The territorial extent and scope of the term Benaadir has varied in definition throughout its history, with medieval usage extending Benaadir to huge swaths of coast adjacent to Mogadishu stretching as far as hundreds of miles, from Hobyo in the north. The early modern period which extended the meaning of Benaadir to the interior midway towards the Hirshabelle region, to the contemporary period wherein sometimes the nonstandard misnomer of usage being interchangeable with the city of Mogadishu. This Banaadir municipality is bordered to the north by Hirshabelle and to the southwest by South West, and is the only Somali gobol (administrative region) which is both a municipality and a gobol known as a region.

The 1992 famine in Somalia resulted from a severe drought and devastation caused by warring factions in southern Somalia, primarily the Somali National Front, in the fertile inter-riverine breadbasket between the Jubba and Shebelle rivers. The resulting famine primarily affected residents living in the riverine area, predominantly in Bay Region, and those internally displaced by the civil war.

During the second half of 1992, the famine began to recede, partly due to the lull in fighting, which allowed the first crop harvest in the Lower Shebelle region, and also due to large-scale international food deliveries. Local Somali-led initiatives formed to address starvation were eventually overwhelmed, particularly in the Bay region. The crisis led to the creation of UNOSOM I in April 1992. The Red Cross took lead of the response, spending more than half of its 1992 budget on the crisis and distributing 75% of all relief in Somalia. From August to December 1992, the United States operated an aid airlift to the Red Cross that saved approximately 40,000 lives.