Editing Middle Shabelle (section)

==Overview==

As part of the former [[Banaadir|Benadir]] region, Middle Shabelle's capital was [[Mogadishu]] up until the mid-1980s, when the town of [[Jowhar]] became the capital. It is named after the [[Shebelle River]] that passes through this region.

The region is regarded as one of the most fertile regions in Somalia and was the first region to have multiple factories opened up in it, such as a sugar and clothes factory. It was also the main source of local grown food before the civil war. 

Today, the region supports livestock production, rain-fed and irrigated agriculture and fisheries, with an annual rainfall between 150 and 500 millimeters. Covering an area of approximately 60,000 square kilometres, the region has a 400 kilometre coastline on the Indian Ocean. The Shabelle river runs for 150 kilometres through the region.<ref>{{Cite web |title=REGION: MIDDLE SHABELLE REGION |url=http://www.pitt.edu/~ginie/somalia/pdf/mishabe.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200804033945/http://www.pitt.edu/~ginie/somalia/pdf/mishabe.pdf |archive-date=2020-08-04 |website=www.pitt.edu}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Somalia: Assessment report on the mechanisms and needs of the population living in Jowhar, Adale, and Adal Yabal, Warsheikh districts of Middle Shabelle region – Somalia |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/somalia/somalia-assessment-report-mechanisms-and-needs-population-living-jowhar-adale-and |website=ReliefWeb |access-date=10 July 2019 |language=en |date=19 Jun 2008}}</ref>