Benaadir is much smaller than the historical region of Benadir, which covered most of the country's central and southern seaboard opposite the Indian Ocean and up to the Juba River, including Mogadishu.

[11] Tradition and old records assert that southern Somalia, including the Mogadishu area, was inhabited by Benadiris for centuries[12] and was during the early modern period considered the wealthiest city on the East African coast, as well as the center of a thriving textile industry.

After the ousting of the Siad Barre regime in 1991 and the ensuing Somali Civil War, various militias fought for control of the city, later to be replaced by the Islamic Courts Union in the mid-2000s.

The ICU thereafter splintered into more radical groups, notably the al-Shabaab, which fought the Transitional Federal Government (2004–2012) and its African Union Mission to Somalia allies.

[7] It has the highest percentage of residents who are internally displaced persons among the regions of Somalia, because of its relative safety, economic opportunities and availability of resources.