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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Aanaar Saami of Finland

The Aanaar Saami of Finland, numbering approximately 750 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are one of the distinct Sámi ethnolinguistic communities of northern FinlandAanaar Sami, Anarâškielâ, Inari Saami, Aanaar Sámi They are an Indigenous people, in the Finno-Ugric, Saami people cluster of the Eurasian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Protestantism. They primarily speak Finnish.

Aanaar Saami in Finland photo
Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 3 Flash: Aanaar Saami

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: European Peoples
Country: Finland
People Cluster: Finno-Ugric, Saami
Primary Language(s): Finnish (fin)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Protestantism
Population: 750
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG000110
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Pray for the Aanaar Saami of Finland

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Christianity - Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

%
Christianity - Protestant… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Finnish
Language Family: Uralic

%
Finnish Speakers

Media Resources in Finnish:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Finnish:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Finnish bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Aanaar Saami

The Aanaar Saami are Unengaged and Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Next steps for the Aanaar Saami

The Aanaar Saami 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.

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

Next steps for the Aanaar Saami

The Aanaar Saami 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.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Aanaar Saami of Finland

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
readRomans 1:19

Pray that God will use testimony of creation to cause those who do not yet know the gospel to long for truth and a relationship with the Author of life.

Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
readPsalm 96:7

Pray that entire households will come to faith in Jesus and that God will bless their families with faith in Him for generations to come.

For the LORD takes pleasure in his people; he adorns the humble with salvation.
readPsalm 149:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be encouraged and feel immeasurably loved as they meditate on the fact that God takes pleasure in them.

Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father sends me, even so I am sending you."
readJohn 20:21

Ask God to raise up and send out believers cross-culturally who will go out in His authority and be sustained by His peace as they share the gospel with the lost.

Saami, Inari (ROP3 - 103023) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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