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The Maraliinan of Papua New Guinea

The Maraliinan of Papua New Guinea, numbering approximately 4,200 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an Austronesian-speaking ethnolinguistic community of Papua New Guinea's Watut Valley whose identity is rooted in river-valley village life, subsistence agriculture, and the cultural traditions of the Middle Watut region. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Middle Watut is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Maraliinan

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Papua New Guinea
People Cluster: New Guinea
Primary Language(s): Middle Watut (mpl)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 4,200
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG010183
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Pray for the Maraliinan of Papua New Guinea

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: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

40%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Middle Watut
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Kodut, Middle Speakers

Media Resources in Middle Watut:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Middle Watut:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Middle Watut bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Maraliinan 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 Maraliinan:
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 Maraliinan of Papua New Guinea

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
readRomans 5:7-8

Pray for the many who don't yet understand the hope of the gospel, and pray that God will reveal to them that while they were in darkness, Christ died for them.

And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
read1 John 4:21

Pray that the good news of God's love will reach everyone in this people group, and that His love will compel them to love others as Christ has loved us.

Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.
readHebrews 10:25

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will not neglect meeting together but encourage one another as they see the Day approaching.

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.
readRomans 9:16

Ask God to raise up people who will trust in His sovereignty as they share the gospel, knowing that it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.

Maraliinan Across Countries (ROP3 - 106308) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

1 people group

Photo People Group ID Name Country Population ▼ Strategic Progress Index Language Religion
Maraliinan PG010183 Maraliinan Papua New Guinea 4,200 No Longer Unreached Middle Watut Protestantism

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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