Marka

The city of Essina is believed to have been the predecessor state of Merca. It used to be an ancient Proto-Somali emporium city-state. It is mentioned in the Periplus 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. According to the Periplus, maritime trade already connected peoples in the Merca area with other communities along the Somali Sea coast. According to the 12th-century author Al-Idrisi the Hawiye occupied the coastal areas between Ras Hafun and Merca, as well as the lower basin of the lower Shabelle river. Al-Idrisi's mention of the Hawiye is the first documentary reference to a specific Somali group in the Horn. Later Arab writers also make references to the Hawiye clan in connection with both Merca and the lower Shabelle valley. …

Merca has a jetty-class seaport, the Port of Merca. The nearest airport to the city is the K50 Airport in the Lower Shebelle province. Otherwise, most people take the Aden Adde Airport in Mogadishu and then take an hour and 30 minute bus ride to Merca

According to the UNDP in 2005, Merca had a population of around 250,000 inhabitants. it is primarily inhabited by Biimaal Clan with there being a recognizable amount of other Somali tribes.