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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.

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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

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
readJohn 3:14-15

Pray that the lost among them will look to the One lifted up on the cross, believing in Him and receiving eternal life.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
readJohn 3:16

Pray that the lost will seek God and learn that they have a heavenly Father who loves them and wants them to live eternally with Him.

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.
readRomans 10:12

Pray that as people from different backgrounds place their faith in Christ, they will be unified by their faith Him.

Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!"
readIsaiah 40:9

Pray for God to send and sustain believers to go and herald the good news to the lost here.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic 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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