The Moroccan Arabs of Portugal

The Moroccan Arabs of Portugal, numbering approximately 24,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an Arabic-speaking people of North Africa whose culture reflects the interaction of Arab, Amazigh (Berber), Islamic, Mediterranean, Saharan, African, and Andalusian influences within the distinctive historical and social context of Morocco. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Moroccan Arabic is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Moroccan Arab

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Portugal
People Cluster: Arab, Maghreb
Primary Language(s): Moroccan Arabic (ary)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 24,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG000491
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Moroccan Arabs of Portugal

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Moroccan Arabic
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Arabic, Moroccan Speakers

Media Resources in Moroccan Arabic:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

3 films

Bible Resources in Moroccan Arabic:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Morocco Bible Society, 2012✓

1 entry

Or check out the Moroccan Arabic bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), 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.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Moroccan Arabs:
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

Pray specifically for the Moroccan Arabs of Portugal

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
readRomans 3:23

Pray that those who live in fear, guilt and discontentment because of sin will see their need for change, hear, and receive the good news of freedom from sin through Christ.

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 those who don't know the good news of peace and salvation through Jesus Christ will have an opportunity to receive it. Pray that it will bring hope and healing to their souls.

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
readColossians 4:6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, their speech will always be gracious and ready to answer for the hope which is within them.

And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."
readMatthew 16:17

Pray that God who is in heaven will place believers in the lives of people who need to encounter the gospel and that He will reveal to them the truth of what they hear.

Arab, Moroccan Across Countries (ROP3 - 106804) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

15 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▼Religion
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsBelgium232,000Engaged yet UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsGibraltar1,700Unengaged and UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsNetherlands411,000Engaged yet UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsPortugal24,000Unengaged and UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsSpain881,000Engaged yet UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsUnited Kingdom41,000Unengaged and UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsFrance853,000Engaged yet UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsLibya11,500Unengaged and UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsMorocco21,300,000Engaged yet UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsItaly516,000Engaged yet UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsGermany137,000Unengaged and UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsAlgeria187,000Engaged yet UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsUnited States122,000Engaged yet UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsCanada111,000Engaged yet UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsWestern Sahara417,000Unengaged and UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni 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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