River · Somalia
Shabelle
Shabelle is the longest river of Somalia, in the Horn of Africa. Its water comes from the Ethiopian Highlands and usually disappears in marshes north of the Jubba.
Picture credit: user:dcastor (CC0) · Wikimedia Commons
Where is the Shabelle?
The river starts here: Ethiopian Highlands.
It ends in the marshes north of the Jubba, rarely reaching the sea.
Countries on the river: Somalia.
The story behind it
The Shabelle is unusual, because most of the time it never reaches the sea. Near the coast it turns and runs for hundreds of kilometres behind the dunes, then soaks away in swamps and sandy ground; only after very heavy rain does it push through to the Jubba. That is why maps and books do not always agree about where the river ends. Farmers along its banks depend on it completely and lead the water into their fields of maize, sesame, bananas and sugar cane. In the dry season the bed can shrink to puddles, while after storms in the Ethiopian mountains the flood may cover whole towns such as Beledweyne. Crocodiles, turtles and many birds live in the remaining pools, and herders bring their camels and goats to drink.
Questions children ask
How long is the Shabelle?
The Shabelle is around 1 820 kilometres long. Because its end changes with the seasons, different books give slightly different numbers.
Which country is the Shabelle the longest river of?
Where does the Shabelle end?
It usually sinks away in marshes and sand north of the Jubba. Only in very wet years does it reach that river and travel on to the Indian Ocean.
Where these numbers come from
Every figure on this page was checked against public reference sources before publication. Where sources genuinely disagree, the text says so.
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