The Rahanweyn is a Somali clan

Somali clan

The demographics of Somalia describes the condition and overview of Somalia's inhabitants. Demographic topics include basic education, health and population statistics, as well as identified racial and religious affiliations.-Somalis:...

, composed of two major sub-clans, the Digil and the Mirifle. It makes up about 17% of the population of Somalia

Somalia

Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...

, and is one of the five major Somali clans residing in the Horn of Africa

Horn of Africa

The Horn of Africa is a peninsula in East Africa that juts hundreds of kilometers into the Arabian Sea and lies along the southern side of the Gulf of Aden. It is the easternmost projection of the African continent...

.

Overview

The Digil sub-clan mainly consists of farmers and coastal people, while the Mirifle are predominantly nomadic pastoralists

Pastoralism

Pastoralism or pastoral farming is the branch of agriculture concerned with the raising of livestock. It is animal husbandry: the care, tending and use of animals such as camels, goats, cattle, yaks, llamas, and sheep. It may have a mobile aspect, moving the herds in search of fresh pasture and...

.

According to the Rahanweyn, Somalis are linguistically grouped into Mai Terreh and Maxaa Tiri. The speakers of Mai Terreh (also known as Mai-Mai or Af-Maay

Af-Maay

Maay Maay is a member of the East Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic family and is written using the Latin alphabet. It is spoken mostly in Somalia and adjacent parts of Ethiopia and Kenya. Its speakers are known as Sab Somalis...

) are the Rahanweyn, while the speakers of Maxaa Tiri (i.e. Standard Somali

Somali language

The Somali language is a member of the East Cushitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. Its nearest relatives are Afar and Oromo. Somali is the best documented of the Cushitic languages, with academic studies beginning before 1900....

) belong to other clans (Darod

Darod

The Darod is a Somali clan. The father of this clan is named Abdirahman bin Isma'il al-Jabarti, but is more commonly known as Darod. In the Somali language, the word Daarood means "an enclosed compound," a conflation of the two words daar and ood .The Darod population in Somalia lives principally...

, Dir

Dir (clan)

The Dir , or Theyr bin Abdalla as mentioned in the book "Futuh al-Habasha", is a Somali clan. Its members mostly live in northwestern Somalia and Djibouti, in addition to southern and central Somalia and the Ogaden....

, Hawiye

Hawiye

The Hawiye is a Somali clan. Members of the clan primarily live in central and southern Somalia, in the Ogaden and the North Eastern Province , and in smaller numbers in other countries. Like many Somalis, Hawiye members trace their ancestry to Irir Samaale...

 and Isaaq

Isaaq

The Isaaq is one of the main Somali clans. Members of the clan principally live in the northwestern Somaliland region of Somalia, and the Somali Region of Ethiopia. The populations of five major cities of Somaliland – Hargeisa, Burco, Berbera, Ceerigaabo and Gabiley – are predominantly Isaaq...

).

The Digil and Mirifle are mainly concentrated in southern Somalia, including Mogadishu

Mogadishu

Mogadishu , popularly known as Xamar, is the largest city in Somalia and the nation's capital. Located in the coastal Benadir region on the Indian Ocean, the city has served as an important port for centuries....

, Upper Juba (Gedo

Gedo

Gedo is an administrative region , formerly part of the historic Upper Juba Region in southern Somalia. Its regional capital is Garbahaarreey. Gedo is a region created in 1980s and is bordered by the Ogaden in Ethiopia, the North Eastern Province in Kenya, and the Somali regions of Bakool, Bay,...

, Bay

Bay, Somalia

Bay is an administrative region in southern Somalia.-Overview:It is bordered by the Somalian regions of Bakool, Lower Shabele, Middle Juba and Gedo....

, Bakool

Bakool

-Overiew:It is bordered by the Ogaden and the Somalian regions of Hiiraan, Bay and Gedo.Bakool, like Gedo and Bay, as well as most parts of the Jubbada Dhexe region, used to be a part of the old Upper Region, which was subdivided in the mid 1980s...

, most parts of Jubbada Dhexe

Jubbada Dhexe

Middle Juba is an administrative region in southern Somalia. With its capital at Bu'aale, it is located in the Jubaland autonomous region.Middle Juba is bordered by Somali regions of Gedo, Bay, Lower Shabele and Jubbada Hoose and the Indian Ocean...

) and Shabeellaha Hoose

Shabeellaha Hoose

Lower Shebelle is an administrative region in southern Somalia.-Overview:It is bordered by the Somalian regions of Banadir, Middle Shebelle, Hiran, Bay and Middle Juba, and the Indian Ocean...

. They are also found in the Somali Region

Somali Region

Somali Region ; is the eastern-most of the nine ethnic divisions of Ethiopia. It is often called Somalia, though it is not to be confused with the independent country of the same name. The capital of Somali State is Jijiga...

 of Ethiopia

Ethiopia

Ethiopia , officially known as the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. It is the second-most populous nation in Africa, with over 82 million inhabitants, and the tenth-largest by area, occupying 1,100,000 km2...

 and the North Eastern Province

North Eastern Province (Kenya)

North Eastern Province is the third largest province in Kenya and has thirteen constituencies represented in the Kenya National Assembly.The region is home to a rare type of antelope called the Hirola, which is classified as an endangered species. The NFD's pastoralists also possess livestock in...

 of Kenya

Kenya

Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...

.

Clan tree

There is no clear agreement on the clan and sub-clan structures and many lineages are omitted. The following listing is taken from the World Bank

World Bank

The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans to developing countries for capital programmes.The World Bank's official goal is the reduction of poverty...

's Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics from 2005 and the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

's Home Office

Home Office

The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for immigration control, security, and order. As such it is responsible for the police, UK Border Agency, and the Security Service . It is also in charge of government policy on security-related issues such as drugs,...

 publication, Somalia Assessment 2001.

• Rahanweyn
  • Digil
    • Dabarre
    • Jiddu
    • Garre
    • Tunni
    • Geledi
  • Mirifle
    • Sagaal
      • Jilible
      • Hadame
    • Sideed
      • Harin
      • Eelay
      • Jiron
      • Leyasn

In the south central part of Somalia the World Bank shows the following clan tree:

• Rahanwayin
  • Digil
    • Geledi
    • Tunni
    • Garre
    • Jiddo
    • Shanta-Alen

Christian Bader lists the principal Digil and Rahanweyn subclans as follows:

• Sab
  • Amarre
    • Daysame
      • Digil
        • Maad
          • Rahanweyn
            • Jambaluul
            • Midhifle
            • Aleemo
          • Maatay
            • Irroole
            • Dabarre
          • 'Ali Jiiddu
          • Dubdheere
            • Waraasiile
            • Tikeme
          • Duubo
          • Digiine
          • Iise Tunni

Notable Rahanweyn people

• Abdallah Isaaq Deerow
  Abdallah Isaaq Deerow
  -Political career:Deerow served as Minister of Constitutional Affairs of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia under the leadership of President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed.-Assassination:On July 28, 2006, Deerow was shot dead outside a mosque in Baidoa....
  
  , late Minister of Constitutional Affairs of the Transitional Republic Government
• Abdi Kusow
  Abdi Kusow
  -Biography:Kusow studied at Michigan State University, where he obtained a Bachelor of Arts in 1990. He later earned a Master of Urban Planning from the University of Michigan Taubman College of Architecture and Urban Planning in 1992. He also holds a Ph. D...
  
  , professor of sociology and anthropology at Oakland University
• Adan Mohamed Nuur Madobe
  Adan Mohamed Nuur Madobe
  Adan Mohamed Nuur Madobe is a Somali politician and a former Speaker of Parliament of the Transitional Federal Government of Somalia. Following the resignation of Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed as President of Somalia in December 2008, he became interim president. Like many Somali politicians, he is a...
  
  , current Speaker of the Parliament of the Transitional Federal Government, and former interim President of Somalia
• Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud
  Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud
  Colonel Hasan Muhammad Nur Shatigadud is a Somali faction leader, and chairman of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army , which sought to establish the autonomous state of Southwestern Somalia. Recently, he is said to have played a role in the capture of Mogadishu by Ethiopian and Transitional Federal...
  
  , former chairman of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army
  Rahanweyn Resistance Army
  The Rahanweyn Resistance Army , also known as the Reewin Resistance Army, is an autonomist militant group operating in the two southwestern regions of Somalia, Bay and Bakool. It was the first Reewin armed faction to emerge during the Somali civil war...
  
  ,member of the Parliament, former president of Southwestern Somalia .
• Sharif Hassan Sheikh Adan, speaker of the parliament of Transitional Federal government 2004–2007.
• Mohamed Haji Mukhtar
  Mohamed Haji Mukhtar
  -Biography:Mukhtar was born in the town of Koorkoor in the Bakool region of southern Somalia. He is the son of Malak Mukhtar Malak Hassan, a highly respected chief of the Digil and Mirifle Somali clans, and belongs to the Leysan subdivision of the latter....
  
  , professor of African and Middle Eastern History at Savannah State University.
• Mohamed Ibrahim
  Mohamed Ibrahim
  Mohamed Ibrahim is an Egyptian footballer currently playing as an attacking midfielder with Egyptian Premier League club Zamalek....
  
  , late minister of TNG government
• Muhammad Ibrahim Habsade
  Muhammad Ibrahim Habsade
  Muhammad Ibrahim Habsade is former rebel soldier of the Rahanweyn Resistance Army, former Minister of Land and Air Transport, and current Minister of Agriculture in the Somali Transitional Federal Government....
  
  , is former rebel soldier and current Agriculture minister in the Somali Transitional Federal Government.
• Sheikh Mukhtar Mohamed Hussein
  Sheikh Mukhtar Mohamed Hussein
  Sheikh Mukhtar Mohamed Hussein was the speaker of the Somali parliament, and briefly an interim President of Somalia in 1969.-Biography:...
  
  ,speaker of parliament, from 1965-1969 and briefly President of Somalia
• Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Mansur
  Sheikh Mukhtar Robow Mansur
  Sheikh Mukhtar Robow is a Somali rebel leader and spokesman for Somalia's Al-Shabaab.-Early life:Robow was born in the 1960s in the Berdaale district of the Bay region in southern Somalia. He studied at a local Qur'anic school, and later continued his religious education in the mosques of...
  
  , leader and former spokesman for Al Shabaab
  Al-Shabaab (Somalia)
  Harakat al-Shabaab al-Mujahideen , more commonly known as al-Shabaab , is a terrorist group of militants fighting to overthrow the government of Somalia. As of 2011, the group controls large swathes of the southern parts of Somalia, where it is said to have imposed its own strict form of Sharia law...
  
  
• Mustafa Mohamed Moalim
  Mustafa Mohamed Moalim
  Mustafa Mohamed Moalim was prominent Somali pilot.-Biography:At the age of 17 in post-independence Somalia, Mustafa volunteered as a fighter pilot, swearing to defend the young Somali nation from foreign threats...
  
  (Mustafa Maxamed Macalin), first Somali fighter pilot, Chief of Somali Air Force School and Chief of Somali Air Force Operations.