Rahanweyn

The Rahanweyn (Somali Maay: Reewing; traditional Somali: Raxanweyn, Arabic: رحنوين‎) is a Somali clan, composed of two major sub-clans, the Digil and the Mirifle. It makes up about 20% of the population of Somalia, and is one of the five major Somali clans residing in the Horn of Africa.

Overview

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

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) are the Rahanweyn, while the speakers of Maxaa Tiri (i.e. Standard Somali) belong to other clans (Darod, Dir, Hawiye and Isaaq).

The Digil and Mirifle are mainly concentrated in southern Somalia, including Mogadishu, Upper Juba (Gedo, Bay, Bakool, most parts of Middle Juba) and Lower Shebelle. They are also found in the Somali Region of Ethiopia and the North Eastern Province of Kenya.

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's Conflict in Somalia: Drivers and Dynamics from 2005 and the United Kingdom's Home Office publication, Somalia Assessment 2001.