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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
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Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Iraqi Arabs of Syria

The Iraqi Arabs of Syria, numbering approximately 60,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a diaspora community of Arabs whose identity is shaped by their use of Mesopotamian Arabic, Islamic traditions, tribal affiliations, and a shared history associated with the modern state of Iraq. They are an Diaspora people in the Arab, Levant people cluster of the Arab Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Arabic, Mesopotamian and their primary religion is Shia Islam.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Syria
People Cluster: Arab, Levant
Primary Language(s): Arabic, Mesopotamian (acm)
Primary Religion(s): Shia Islam
Population: 60,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012188
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Pray for the Iraqi Arabs of Syria

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: Shia Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

60%
%
Shia Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Arabic, Mesopotamian
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Arabic, Mesopotamian Speakers

Media Resources in Arabic, Mesopotamian:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Arabic, Mesopotamian:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Arabic, Mesopotamian 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 Active 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 Iraqi 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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Iraqi Arabs 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 Iraqi Arabs:
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 Iraqi Arabs 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 Iraqi Arabs:
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 Iraqi Arabs of Syria

That they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.
readActs 17:27

Pray that those who don't yet know Christ will search diligently for God and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.

Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the LORD; exult before him!
readPsalm 68:4

Pray that many will come to faith in Christ and share the gospel with others so that His salvation will be known among all nations.

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.
readLuke 18:17

Pray that as people trust in Christ, they will have simple, childlike confidence that He will provide for their needs.

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.
readLuke 10:1

Ask God to raise up, send out, and sustain Christians who can go together to share the good news of Jesus with those who need it.

Arab, Iraqi Across Countries (ROP3 - 104056) 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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