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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
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The Shuwa Arabs of Nigeria

The Shuwa Arabs of Nigeria, numbering approximately 238,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a nomadic confederation of people of mixed Arab and Arabized indigenous African ancestry, inhabiting a portion of the Sahel mainly between Lake Chad and the Nile river near south Kordofan. They mostly adhere to Folk Islam and Chadian Arabic is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Nigeria
People Cluster: Arab, Shuwa
Primary Language(s): Chadian Arabic (shu)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 238,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG014441
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Pray for the Shuwa Arabs of Nigeria

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: Folk Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Chadian Arabic
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Arabic, Chadian Speakers

Media Resources in Chadian Arabic:

Films:
Title Link
JESUS View Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Chadian Arabic:

Bible Name (Translation) Video Audio Text
Alliance Biblique du Tchad ✓
Bible Society of Chad 2012 ✓ ✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Chadian Arabic bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Shuwa Arabs 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 Shuwa Arabs:
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 Shuwa Arabs of Nigeria

For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens.
readPsalm 96:5

Pray that those who are seeking after worthless idols will not be satisfied until they seek the truth and find it in Christ.

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst."
readJohn 6:35

Pray that the lost will come to Jesus and believe in Him, never to hunger or thirst again.

Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!
readPsalm 105:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and may feel weak in their current circumstances, they will seek the Lord's presence and persevere in the Lord's strength.

And the King will answer them, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."
readMatthew 25:40

Ask God to raise up and send believers who will serve "the least of these" with compassion and energy because they know that in serving those in need, they are serving Christ.

Baggara, Shuwa Arab Across Countries (ROP3 - 108972) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

3 people groups

Photo People Group ID Name Country Population ▼ Strategic Progress Index Language Religion
Chadian Arabs PG011332 Chadian Arabs Chad 2,015,000 Engaged yet Unreached Chadian Arabic Sunni Islam
Shuwa Arabs PG014441 Shuwa Arabs Nigeria 238,000 Engaged yet Unreached Chadian Arabic Folk Islam
Shuweihat PG042848 Shuweihat Sudan 145,000 Unengaged and Unreached Sudanese Arabic Sunni 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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