Merca مَركة (Wadaad) | |
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City | |
 Merca beachside | |
| Nickname: Marko cadey | |
  Merca Location within Somalia Show map of Lower Shebelle Merca Location within the Horn of Africa Show map of Somalia Merca Location within Africa Show map of Horn of Africa Merca Merca (Africa) Show map of Africa | |
| Coordinates:01°42′48″N044°45′56″E / 1.71333°N 44.76556°E /1.71333; 44.76556 | |
| Country |  Somalia |
| Region | Lower Shabelle |
| Founded | 1000 BC |
| Government | |
| • Mayor and Governor | Osman Muuse Mohamed |
| Population (2021)[1] | |
• City | 230,100 |
| • Urban | 716,361 |
| Time zone | UTC+3 (EAT) |
Merca (Somali:Marka,Arabic:ماركا) is the capital city of theLower Shebelle province ofSomalia, a historic port city in the region. It is located approximately 109 km (68 mi) to the southwest of the nation's capitalMogadishu. Merca is the traditional home territory of the Bimal clan and was the center of theBimal revolt.[2]
The city ofEssina is believed to have been the predecessor state of Merca. It used to be an ancientProto-Somaliemporium city-state.[3] It is mentioned in thePeriplus of the Erythraean Sea, a Greek travel document dating from the first century AD, as one of a series of commercial ports on the Somali littoral.[4] According to thePeriplus, maritime trade already connected peoples in the Merca area with other communities along the Somali Sea coast.[5]
According to the 12th-century authorAl-Idrisi theHawiye occupied the coastal areas betweenRas Hafun and Merca, as well as the lower basin of the lowerShabelle river. Al-Idrisi's mention of theHawiye is the first documentary reference to a specific Somali group in the Horn. Later Arab writers also make references to theHawiye clan in connection with both Merca and the lower Shabelle valley.Ibn Sa'id (1214–74), for instance, considered Merca to be the capital of the Hawiye, who lived in fifty villages on the bank of a river which he calledthe Nile of Mogadishu, a clear reference to the Shabelle river.Yaqut al-Hamawi, another thirteen-century Arab geographer also mentions Merca, which he says belonged to theBlack Berbers considered ancestors of modernSomalis.[6]
During the Middle Ages, the area was one of several prominent administrative centers of theAjuran Sultanate. The polity formed one of the largest kingdoms in theHorn region. Variouspillar tombs exist in the region, which local tradition holds were built in the 15th century when the Sultanate'snaa'ibs governed the district.[7] According toIbn Sa'id in the thirteenth century described nearby Merca as one of the three most important cities on the East African coast along withMogadishu andBarawa all serving as the commercial and Islamic centers for theIndian Ocean.[8]
Following the decline ofAjuran Sultanate. In the vicinity of Merca, a mysterious group known as theEl Amir made its appearance between 1650 and 1700. According to an account collected by Guillain in 1847, a leader known as Amir, believed to originate from theAbgaal, formed a following or "tribe" which invaded the territory of Merca and expelled theAjuran clan. The El Amir ruled for thirty-four years until theBiimaal expelled them and definitively occupied Merca.[9]
One of the most powerful sultanates to have emerged from Southern Somalia called theGeledi Sultanate centered inAfgooye in the late 17th century. The Sultanate of Geledi tried to attack and destroy the Bimaal clan many times to try and capture the coastal city of Merca. But the Bimal of Merca managed to defeat the Geledi Sultanate 2 times. In 1843Yusuf Mahamud, the Sultan of Geledi, vowed to destroy the Bimaal once and for all and mobilizes the Geledi army. In 1848 the sultan of the Geledi, Yusuf Mahamud was killed at Adaddey Suleyman, a village near Merca, in a battle between the Bimaal and Geledi Sultanates. His son SultanAhmed Yusuf tried to seek revenge but was also killed in 1878 at Agaaran, near Marka by the Bimal. This caused a steady decline in the Geledi Sultanate.[10]
TheBimal revolt,Bimal resistance, orBanadir resistance was aguerrilla war against theItalian Somaliland in southernSomalia. It was fought from the years 1896 to 1926 and largely concentrated in theLower Shebelle,Banadir, andMiddle Shebelle. The war was centered around Merka and Danane.
It is compared to the war of the Mad Mullah in northern Somalia.[11][12] Named after theBimal clan since they were the major element in the resistance.[13]
For more about Bimal or Merca revolt see:
In the 1930s a group ofItalian Somalis established residency in Merca. ThePort of Merca was the oldest port inItalian Somalia and was nicknamed the "port of bananas" due to its status as a key exporter of bananas from Somalia toEurope.[14] In the city of Merca there was a huge economic development in the 1930s, due mainly to the growing commerce of the port of Merca connected by small railway to the farm area ofGenale.[15]
Following the full outbreak of theSomali Civil War in 1991, Merca came under the control ofAl-Itihaad Al-Islamiya, a Islamist group who soon after started governing the city. Al-Itihaad controlled the city untilUS troops landed in Somalia during December 1992. In this period the organization relinquished of the port control to the US military peacefully.[16]
Merca was abandoned by government forces and captured byAl-Shabaab in February 2016.[17] It was recaptured by theSomali National Army along withAfrican Union troops, a few days later. A small battle was fought in which a Somali soldier, several militants, and four civilians died.[18]
On 27 July 2022, an Al-Shabaab suicide bomber killed mayorAbdullahi Ali Ahmed Waafow and twenty other people while Waafow was giving a speech.[19]
According to the UNDP in 2005, Merca had a population of around 250,000inhabitants.[20] it is primarily inhabited by Biimaal Clan with there being a recognizable amount of other Somali tribes.[21]
Merca has ajetty-classseaport, thePort of Merca.[22]
The nearest airport to the city is theK50 Airport in theLower Shebelle province.
Otherwise, most people take theAden Adde Airport in Mogadishu and then take an hour and 30 minute bus ride to Merca
the Bimal clan was the major element in the resistance. See:Gherardo Pantano,Nel Benadir: La Citta di Merca e la Regione Bimal
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