The Gulf Arabs of Qatar

The Gulf Arabs of Qatar, numbering approximately 393,000 people, are Unengaged and 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 Indigenous 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: Arab, Qatari

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Qatar
People Cluster: Arab, Arabian
Primary Language(s): Gulf Arabic (afb)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 393,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011905
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Gulf Arabs of Qatar

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

95%
%
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

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 Gulf 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 Gulf Arabs of Qatar

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
readIsaiah 40:8

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will be freed from the emptiness of fading hopes and find lasting life and truth in the unchanging Word of God.

...And that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
readLuke 24:47

Pray that the message of repentance and forgiveness through Jesus will reach everyone.

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
readJohn 10:28

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have assurance of eternal life, knowing that no one can snatch them out of the loving hand of Jesus.

The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
readJohn 1:35-36

Pray for those God sends to cross cultures to share the gospel, that they might faithfully share the good news of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

10 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress Index ▼LanguageReligion
Gulf ArabsGulf ArabsCanada61,000Engaged yet UnreachedGulf ArabicSunni Islam
Gulf ArabsGulf ArabsUnited States49,500Engaged yet UnreachedGulf ArabicSunni Islam
Gulf ArabsGulf ArabsSaudi Arabia583,000Engaged yet UnreachedGulf ArabicSunni Islam
Gulf BedouinsGulf BedouinsEgypt1,830,000Engaged yet UnreachedGulf ArabicSunni Islam
Gulf ArabsGulf ArabsUnited Arab Emirates1,355,000Engaged yet UnreachedGulf ArabicSunni Islam
Gulf ArabsGulf ArabsOman888,000Engaged 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 ArabsYemen23,000Unengaged and UnreachedHijazi ArabicSunni Islam
Gulf ArabsGulf ArabsQatar393,000Unengaged and UnreachedGulf 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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