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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Iraqw of Tanzania

The Iraqw of Tanzania, numbering approximately 972,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a people of the Central Highlands of Tanzania in East Africa. They are an Indigenous people in the Rift people cluster of the Horn of Africa Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Iraqw and their primary religion is Roman Catholicism.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Horn of Africa Peoples
Country: Tanzania
People Cluster: Rift
Primary Language(s): Iraqw (irk)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 972,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG014948
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Pray for the Iraqw of Tanzania

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: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

60%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Iraqw
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

65%
%
Iraqw Speakers

Media Resources in Iraqw:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Iraqw:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Iraqw 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: 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): Pioneer Unreached People Group, (LPI: 1), 0.1% or Greater but Less than 0.5% 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 Iraqw:
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 Iraqw 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 Iraqw:
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 Iraqw 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 Iraqw:
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 Iraqw of Tanzania

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
readJohn 3:17

Pray for those who are living under the burdens of man-made religion to learn about the freedom Jesus offers them and turn to Him in faith.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
readPsalm 16:11

Pray that God will make a way for His path of life to be revealed to many so that they may come into His presence and experience abundant joy and eternal pleasures at His right hand.

I lay down and slept; I woke again, for the LORD sustained me. I will not be afraid of many thousands of people who have set themselves against me all around.
readPsalm 3:5-6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and experience isolation or other persecution, God will sustain them and give them confidence and rest in Him.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
readJohn 1:9-10

Pray for those God might send to share the gospel here. Ask that they will grow closer to Jesus and be compelled to share His good news with people who don't know it.

Iraqw Across Countries (ROP3 - 104058) 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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