Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
Be sure to use the data import function in your favorite app for working with data.
If you'd like to help improve these translations, Contact Us.

PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Masalit of Chad

The Masalit of Chad, numbering approximately 292,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a people whose oral tradition traces origin to Tunisia before migrating through Chad to found a Sultanate in Sudan's Darfur region in 1874, fighting off Mahdist and French incursions before formal absorption into Anglo-Egyptian Sudan in 1922. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Masalit is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Chad
People Cluster: Ouaddai-Fur
Primary Language(s): Masalit (mls)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 292,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011404
View on Joshua Project

Print Profile
Submit Updates

Pray for the Masalit of Chad

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!
Download Prayer Guide

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Masalit
Language Family: Maban

100%
%
Masalit Speakers

Media Resources in Masalit:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Masalit:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Masalit bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Masalit 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 Masalit:
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 Masalit of Chad

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
readPsalm 67:3

Pray that those who are lost and unaware of God's blessings will come to know Him as the one true God, put their trust in Him, and join in praising Him among the nations.

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

Pray that the merciful God who is at work in people's hearts will advance His gospel among them.

So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
read1 Corinthians 3:7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be unified in making disciples and be used by God to further His kingdom near and far.

To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel.
readEphesians 6:18b-19

Ask God to give believers He sends to the lost of this people group the boldness and clarity to proclaim the mystery of the gospel in a way that people can understand.

Massalit Across Countries (ROP3 - 106392) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
MasalitPG012099MasalitSudan491,000Engaged yet UnreachedMasalitSunni Islam
MasalitPG011404MasalitChad292,000Engaged yet UnreachedMasalitSunni 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.

Scroll to Top