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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Sharwa of Cameroon

The Sharwa of Cameroon, numbering approximately 10,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an ethnolinguistic community of Cameroon, Far North province: Mayo-Tsanaga Division, South Bourrah Subdivision; a few in North province: Mayo-Louti Division They are an Indigenous people, with Sharwa as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Chadic people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. They mostly adhere to Folk Islam and Sarua is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Cameroon
People Cluster: Chadic
Primary Language(s): Sarua (swy)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 10,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012778
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Pray for the Sharwa of Cameroon

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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sarua
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

55%
%
Sarua Speakers

Media Resources in Sarua:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Sarua:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Sarua bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Sharwa 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 Sharwa:
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 Sharwa of Cameroon

Claiming to be wise, they became fools.
readRomans 1:22

Ask God to pour out His mercy and bring those who are walking in their own wisdom to faith in Jesus.

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
readRomans 10:14

Pray that the gospel will advance among those who don’t know the good news of salvation in Jesus so that they might believe and trust in Jesus.

But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.
readHebrews 10:32-33

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember the day of their salvation and persevere in their faith despite hardships and suffering.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns”
readIsaiah 52:7

Pray that God will provide open doors for believers who cross cultures to share the good news of salvation with those who need it. Pray that He will give them joy as they see Him move.

Sharwa Across Countries (ROP3 - 115351) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
SharwaPG012778SharwaCameroon10,500Engaged yet UnreachedSaruaFolk 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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