The Tamajeq of Mali

The Tamajeq of Mali, numbering approximately 438,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a large Berber ethnic group that inhabits a vast area of the Sahara desert stretching from far southwestern Libya to southern Algeria, Niger, Mali, and Burkina Faso They are an Indigenous people, with Tuareg as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Tuareg people cluster of the Arab Peoples. Their primary religion is Folk Islam. They primarily speak Tamajaq, Tawallammat.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Mali
People Cluster: Tuareg
Primary Language(s): Tamajaq, Tawallammat (ttq)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 438,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG013571
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Tamajeq of Mali

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: Folk Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tamajaq, Tawallammat
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Tamajaq, Tawallammat Speakers

Media Resources in Tamajaq, Tawallammat:

Films:

Bible Resources in Tamajaq, Tawallammat:

Or check out the Tamajaq, Tawallammat bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 1), 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 Tamajeq:
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 Tamajeq 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 Tamajeq:
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 Tamajeq 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 Tamajeq:
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 Tamajeq of Mali

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.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
readPsalm 51:10

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will quickly repent when they sin and walk with clean hearts and right spirits as they grow in their relationship with the Lord.

Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!
readPsalm 34:3

Pray that God will raise up believers who will go to those in this people group who do not yet follow Jesus, and that they will invite many to magnify the Lord with them so that His fame will spread to the ends of the earth.

Tuareg, Tamajaq Across Countries (ROP3 - 109772) 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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