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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Maraliinan of Papua New Guinea

The Maraliinan of Papua New Guinea, numbering approximately 4,100 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an Austronesian-speaking ethnolinguistic community of Papua New Guinea's Watut Valley whose identity is rooted in river-valley village life, subsistence agriculture, and the cultural traditions of the Middle Watut region. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Middle Watut is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Maraliinan

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Papua New Guinea
People Cluster: New Guinea
Primary Language(s): Middle Watut (mpl)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 4,100
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG010183
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Pray for the Maraliinan of Papua New Guinea

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

40%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Middle Watut
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Kodut, Middle Speakers

Media Resources in Middle Watut:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Middle Watut:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Middle Watut bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Maraliinan are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Maraliinan:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Maraliinan of Papua New Guinea

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
readPsalm 67:3

Pray that those who are lost and unaware of God's blessings will come to know Him as the one true God, put their trust in Him, and join in praising Him among the nations.

And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
readZechariah 2:11

Pray that many will take refuge in the Lord and be His people who share the good news of salvation in Jesus with others.

In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.
readMatthew 5:16

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be humble and give glory to God through their good deeds.

He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
readPsalm 23:3

Pray for believers to go and share the gospel with others here. Ask that God will restore their souls and lead them in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Maraliinan Across Countries (ROP3 - 106308) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▼CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
MaraliinanPG010183MaraliinanPapua New Guinea4,100No Longer UnreachedMiddle WatutProtestantism

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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