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The Zuara of Libya

The Zuara of Libya, numbering approximately 44,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Berber people of Libya's coast whose language had no official status under Italian rule or after 1951 independence, then faced repression after Libya's 1973 Cultural Revolution made teaching it treasonous under a ban on denying Arab identity. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Nafusi is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Zuara

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Libya
People Cluster: Amazigh-Saharan
Primary Language(s): Nafusi (jbn)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 44,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011852
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Pray for the Zuara of Libya

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

100%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Nafusi
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Nafusi Speakers

Media Resources in Nafusi:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Nafusi:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Nafusi bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

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 Zuara:
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

Pray specifically for the Zuara of Libya

And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you."
read1 Samuel 13:13a

Pray that those who are walking in disobedience will recognize their sin and to turn to God.

Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.
readMatthew 6:10

Pray that God's will be done on earth as it is in heaven, and that people will seek His kingdom and righteousness above all else, trusting in His provision.

Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered.
readPsalm 105:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will rejoice as they remember His wonders, miracles, and perfect judgements.

But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
readJeremiah 29:7

Pray that God will lead the lost among them to followers of Jesus who will share the gospel with them so that they may believe and take the message of hope to their families and friends.

Zuwarah Across Countries (ROP3 - 111196) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountry ▼PopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
ZuaraPG011852ZuaraLibya44,000Unengaged and UnreachedNafusiSunni Islam

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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