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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Timbuktu Tamasheq of Mali

The Timbuktu Tamasheq of Mali, numbering approximately 623,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic subgroup of the Tuareg Berber, indigenous to the Kidal Region of northeastern Mali They are an Indigenous people, in the Tuareg people cluster of the Arab Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Folk. They primarily speak Tamasheq.

Tuareg in Burkina Faso photo
Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Timbuktu Tamasheq

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Northern African and Middle Eastern Peoples
Country: Mali
People Cluster: Tuareg
Primary Language(s): Tamasheq (taq)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Folk
Population: 623,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG013572
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Folk
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Folk Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tamasheq
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

%
Tamasheq Speakers

Media Resources in Tamasheq:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Tamasheq:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tamasheq bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Timbuktu Tamasheq

The Timbuktu Tamasheq 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 Timbuktu Tamasheq

The Timbuktu Tamasheq 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 Timbuktu Tamasheq

The Timbuktu Tamasheq 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 Timbuktu Tamasheq of Mali

As it is written: “None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands; no one seeks for God".
readRomans 3:10-11

Pray that God will have mercy on those living in broken relationship with Him, and that He will bring many to surrender and repentance at the throne of grace.

Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia."
readRomans 16:5

Pray for houses to be meeting places for Christians and that God will advance the gospel and grow His Church through natural familial and community relationships.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
readColossians 3:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
readMark 5:20

Pray that God will bring people who appear beyond hope to faith in Jesus and that they will then go and tell others of the marvelous things He has done.

Tuareg, Kidal (ROP3 - 110232) 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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