The Gulf Arabs of Qatar

The Gulf Arabs of Qatar, numbering approximately 393,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an Arab people of the Arabian Gulf who speak Gulf Arabic and share a cultural heritage shaped by tribal traditions, kinship networks, maritime commerce, and the historical societies of eastern Arabia. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Gulf Arabic is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Arab, Qatari

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Qatar
People Cluster: Arab, Arabian
Primary Language(s): Gulf Arabic (afb)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 393,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011905
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Gulf Arabs of Qatar

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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

95%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Gulf Arabic
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Arabic, Gulf Speakers

Media Resources in Gulf Arabic:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

3 films

Bible Resources in Gulf Arabic:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Gulf Arabic 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 Gulf Arabs:
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 Gulf Arabs of Qatar

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
readRomans 3:23

Pray that those who live in fear, guilt and discontentment because of sin will see their need for change, hear, and receive the good news of freedom from sin through Christ.

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.
readPsalm 22:27-28

Pray that entire families will turn to the Lord in repentance and faith, and that they will worship Him and declare His righteousness to the nations.

For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
readHebrews 10:36

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will patiently endure suffering and hardships and do God's will so that they may receive what He has promised.

And the King will answer them, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."
readMatthew 25:40

Ask God to raise up and send believers who will serve "the least of these" with compassion and energy because they know that in serving those in need, they are serving Christ.

Arab, Gulf Sunni Across Countries (ROP3 - 100427) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

10 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Gulf BedouinsGulf BedouinsEgypt1,830,000Engaged yet UnreachedGulf ArabicSunni Islam
Gulf ArabsGulf ArabsUnited Arab Emirates1,355,000Engaged yet UnreachedGulf ArabicSunni Islam
Kuwaiti Sunni ArabsKuwaiti Sunni ArabsKuwait1,220,000Engaged yet UnreachedGulf ArabicSunni Islam
Gulf ArabsGulf ArabsIran945,000Engaged yet UnreachedGulf ArabicSunni Islam
Gulf ArabsGulf ArabsOman889,000Engaged yet UnreachedGulf ArabicSunni Islam
Gulf ArabsGulf ArabsSaudi Arabia583,000Engaged yet UnreachedGulf ArabicSunni Islam
Gulf ArabsGulf ArabsQatar393,000Unengaged and UnreachedGulf ArabicSunni Islam
Gulf ArabsGulf ArabsCanada61,000Engaged yet UnreachedGulf ArabicSunni Islam
Gulf ArabsGulf ArabsUnited States49,500Engaged yet UnreachedGulf ArabicSunni Islam
Gulf ArabsGulf ArabsYemen23,000Unengaged and UnreachedHijazi ArabicSunni 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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