The Gulf Arabs of Oman

The Gulf Arabs of Oman, numbering approximately 888,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an Arab people of the Arabian Gulf who speak Gulf Arabic and share a cultural heritage shaped by tribal traditions, kinship networks, maritime commerce, and the historical societies of eastern Arabia They are an Diaspora people, with Arab, Gulf as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Arab, Arabian people cluster of the Arab Peoples. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Gulf Arabic is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Oman
People Cluster: Arab, Arabian
Primary Language(s): Gulf Arabic (afb)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 888,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011890
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Gulf Arabs of Oman

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

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Gulf Arabic
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Arabic, Gulf Speakers

Media Resources in Gulf Arabic:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

3 films

Bible Resources in Gulf Arabic:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Gulf Arabic bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Gulf 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 Gulf 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 Gulf Arabs of Oman

These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self- made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
readColossians 2:23

Pray for those without Christ, that they will see the emptiness of human traditions and turn to the truth and grace found in Jesus.

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed"
readGalatians 3:8

Ask the Lord to fulfill His promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed by advancing the gospel to every people group who has yet to receive it.

My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.
readJohn 10:29

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will rejoice as they remember that they can never lose their salvation

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
readPsalm 139:14

Praise God for His creativity and power, and pray that He will raise up men and women from among them who are in awe of all He has done and want to go share the hope of Christ with others.

Arab, Gulf Sunni Across Countries (ROP3 - 100427) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

10 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Gulf BedouinsGulf BedouinsEgypt1,830,000Engaged yet UnreachedGulf ArabicSunni Islam
Gulf ArabsGulf ArabsUnited Arab Emirates1,355,000Engaged yet UnreachedGulf ArabicSunni Islam
Kuwaiti Sunni ArabsKuwaiti Sunni ArabsKuwait1,220,000Engaged yet UnreachedGulf ArabicSunni Islam
Gulf ArabsGulf ArabsIran944,000Engaged yet UnreachedGulf ArabicSunni Islam
Gulf ArabsGulf ArabsOman888,000Engaged yet UnreachedGulf ArabicSunni Islam
Gulf ArabsGulf ArabsSaudi Arabia583,000Engaged yet UnreachedGulf ArabicSunni Islam
Gulf ArabsGulf ArabsQatar393,000Unengaged and UnreachedGulf ArabicSunni Islam
Gulf ArabsGulf ArabsCanada61,000Engaged yet UnreachedGulf ArabicSunni Islam
Gulf ArabsGulf ArabsUnited States49,500Engaged yet UnreachedGulf ArabicSunni Islam
Gulf ArabsGulf ArabsYemen23,000Unengaged and UnreachedHijazi 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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