The Nefusa Imazighen of Libya

The Nefusa Imazighen of Libya, numbering approximately 194,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a subgroup of the Indigenous Amazigh peoples of North Africa, united by a shared Amazigh heritage, related Tamazight languages, and a long history of adaptation across the mountains, coasts, and deserts of the Maghreb. They are an Indigenous people in the Amazigh-Saharan people cluster of the Arab Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Nafusi and their primary religion is Sunni Islam.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Amazigh, Nefusa

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Libya
People Cluster: Amazigh-Saharan
Primary Language(s): Nafusi (jbn)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 194,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011844
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Nafusi
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Nafusi Speakers

Media Resources in Nafusi:

Films:

No entries found for: Nafusi(jbn). Help build some!

Bible Resources in Nafusi:

Or check out the Nafusi bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Nefusa Imazighen:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Nefusa Imazighen are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Nefusa Imazighen:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Nefusa Imazighen 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 Nefusa Imazighen:
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 Nefusa Imazighen of Libya

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
readJohn 3:18

Pray for those who are living under the burden of their sin to believe in Jesus, the only Son of God, and receive freedom.

Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
readPsalm 96:7

Pray that entire households will come to faith in Jesus and that God will bless their families with faith in Him for generations to come.

Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
readPsalm 111:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will praise the Lord with their whole heart in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
readPsalm 8:1

Pray that God will raise up people who love Him and are able and willing to go to and share the hope of the gospel with those who don't know it. Pray that everyone will see His name as majestic in all the earth!

Amazigh, Jabal Nafusah Across Countries (ROP3 - 104139) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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