The Tamil of Maldives

The Tamil of Maldives, numbering approximately 900 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a diaspora community of Tamil Muslims in the Maldives. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Tamil is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: Maldives
People Cluster: Tamil
Primary Language(s): Tamil (tam)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 900
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG006166

Pray for the Tamil of Maldives

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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

61%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tamil
Language Family: Dravidian

100%
%
Tamil Speakers

Media Resources in Tamil:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

3 films

Bible Resources in Tamil:

Or check out the Tamil bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Tamil 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 Tamil:
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 Tamil of Maldives

Only in the LORD, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; to him shall come and be ashamed all who were incensed against him.
readIsaiah 45:24

Pray that those who are weary and burdened by their own righteousness will find rest in the righteousness that comes through faith in Christ alone.

For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.
readMalachi 1:11

Pray that they will worship God in spirit and truth, offering Him the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving that He desires.

And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
readRomans 10:15

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be eager to proclaim the good news of peace, knowing that the Lord has called them to this task.

For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
readPsalm 9:18

Pray that God will raise up believers who can help meet emotional and physical needs among this people group. Ask Him to open doors for them and give them the courage to walk into difficult situations and share the hope of the gospel boldly.

Tamil Muslim Across Countries (ROP3 - 109788) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

6 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▼CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
TamilTamilMaldives900No Longer UnreachedTamilSunni Islam
TamilTamilBahrain48,500Engaged yet UnreachedTamilHinduism
TamilTamilKuwait4,700Engaged yet UnreachedTamilSunni Islam
TamilTamilOman28,500Engaged yet UnreachedTamilSunni Islam
TamilTamilQatar28,500Engaged yet UnreachedTamilSunni Islam
Indian MuslimsIndian MuslimsMalaysia320,000Unengaged and UnreachedTamilSunni 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