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The Mbugwe of Tanzania

The Mbugwe of Tanzania, numbering approximately 61,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Bantu people of the Babati and Lake Manyara area in north-central Tanzania, closely related to the Rangi and surrounded historically by Cushitic- and Nilotic-speaking neighbors. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Mbugwe is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Tanzania
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-Tanzania
Primary Language(s): Mbugwe (mgz)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 61,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG014989
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Pray for the Mbugwe 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

12%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Mbugwe
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

58%
%
Mbugwe Speakers

Media Resources in Mbugwe:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Mbugwe:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Mbugwe bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Mbugwe 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 Mbugwe:
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 Mbugwe of Tanzania

For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
readPsalm 1:6

As many look for hope in worldly pleasures, pray they will hear and accept salvation through Christ, turn from destruction, and experience joy in the way of righteousness.

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
readRomans 1:19-20

Pray that God will use His creation – the “things that have been made” – to spark a fresh and passionate curiosity among them to draw near to the Maker and that, as they seek Him, He will make a way for them to hear the gospel and receive it with joy.

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples."
readJohn 8:31

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will abide in Christ daily, depending on Him for every need.

Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.
readActs 17:29

Pray that God will send out laborers to tell people of the one true God and, as the good news is shared, bring about repentance and belief as they turn from idols and follow Jesus.

Mbugwe Across Countries (ROP3 - 106487) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
MbugwePG014989MbugweTanzania61,500No Longer UnreachedMbugweRoman Catholicism

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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