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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Nyamwezi of Tanzania

The Nyamwezi of Tanzania, numbering approximately 2,560,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Tanzania. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Nyamwezi is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Tanzania
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-Tanzania
Primary Language(s): Nyamwezi (nym)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 2,560,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG015014
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Pray for the Nyamwezi 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: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

64%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Nyamwezi
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Nyamwezi Speakers

Media Resources in Nyamwezi:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Nyamwezi:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
United Bible Societies, 1951✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Nyamwezi bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Nyamwezi 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 Nyamwezi:
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

Pray specifically for the Nyamwezi of Tanzania

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
readMatthew 28:16-20

Pray that those who don't yet know Him will encounter the risen Savior and be transformed by the power of His resurrection, becoming disciples who make disciples.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
read2 Peter 3:9

Pray that the lost will not perish but come to repentance and that God's patience and long-suffering will lead them to salvation.

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
readActs 2:42

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will devote themselves to God's Word, to fellowship with each other, and to prayer.

And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."
readMatthew 16:17

Pray that God who is in heaven will place believers in the lives of people who need to encounter the gospel and that He will reveal to them the truth of what they hear.

Nyamwezi Across Countries (ROP3 - 107537) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▼
NyamweziPG015014NyamweziTanzania2,560,000Engaged yet UnreachedNyamweziSunni 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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