Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Swahili of Rwanda

The Swahili of Rwanda, numbering approximately 20,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a diaspora community of Swahili (Waungwana) in Rwanda. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Swahili (individual language) is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Rwanda
People Cluster: Bantu, Swahili
Primary Language(s): Swahili (individual language) (swh)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 20,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG014886
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Swahili of Rwanda

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!
Download Prayer Guide

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

100%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Swahili (individual language)
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Swahili Speakers

Media Resources in Swahili (individual language):

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

4 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Swahili (individual language):

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Habari Njema (Interconfessional)✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Swahili (individual language) 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 Swahili:
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 Swahili of Rwanda

For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.
readLuke 19:10

Pray that those who are lost will respond to the One who came to seek and save the lost, and experience the joy of being found.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
readJohn 14:6

Pray that those who are searching for a way to God and desiring truth will encounter the good news of eternal life and accept it.

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope.
readPsalm 130:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will wait on the Lord and have patience and trust, knowing His ways and His timing are always perfect.

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
readActs 17:30

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will boldly and lovingly declare that God commands all people everywhere to repent.

Swahili Across Countries (ROP3 - 109644) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

17 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Coastal SwahiliPG015047Coastal SwahiliTanzania1,095,000Engaged yet UnreachedSwahili (individual language)Sunni Islam
Arabized AfricansPG011916Arabized AfricansSaudi Arabia555,000Unengaged and UnreachedSwahili (individual language)Sunni Islam
SwahiliPG047306SwahiliUnited States82,000No Longer UnreachedSwahili (individual language)Sunni Islam
Central SwahiliPG014535Central SwahiliCongo, Democratic Republic of the64,500Unengaged and UnreachedSwahili (individual language)Sunni Islam
Coastal SwahiliPG033493Coastal SwahiliKenya60,000Engaged yet UnreachedSwahili (individual language)Sunni Islam
Bantu SwahiliPG011942Bantu SwahiliSomalia55,000Unengaged and UnreachedSwahili (individual language)Sunni Islam
SwahiliPG015634SwahiliZambia39,000No Longer UnreachedSwahili (individual language)Ethnoreligion
SwahiliPG012145SwahiliSudan34,000Unengaged and UnreachedSwahili (individual language)Sunni Islam
Black AfricansPG012226Black AfricansUnited Arab Emirates31,000Engaged yet UnreachedSwahili (individual language)Sunni Islam
SwahiliPG014886SwahiliRwanda20,500Unengaged and UnreachedSwahili (individual language)Sunni Islam
SwahiliPG015420SwahiliMozambique18,500Engaged yet UnreachedSwahili (individual language)Folk Islam
SwahiliPG014471SwahiliBurundi14,500Unengaged and UnreachedSwahili (individual language)Sunni Islam
SwahiliPG015372SwahiliMayotte10,500Engaged yet UnreachedSwahili (individual language)Sunni Islam
SwahiliPG043480SwahiliCanada9,300Unengaged and UnreachedSwahili (individual language)Sunni Islam
SwahiliPG015141SwahiliUganda5,500Unengaged and UnreachedSwahili (individual language)Sunni Islam
SwahiliPG015279SwahiliComoros1,200Engaged yet UnreachedSwahili (individual language)Sunni Islam
SwahiliPG015482SwahiliSeychelles600Engaged yet UnreachedSwahili (individual language)Sunni 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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