The Burungi of Tanzania

The Burungi of Tanzania, numbering approximately 90,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a South Cushitic people of Tanzania's Kondoa area descended from migrants out of southern Ethiopia around 1000 BC, credited alongside the neighboring Sandawe with the region's ancient rock art at sites like Kolo and Kisese. They mostly adhere to Folk Islam and Burunge is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Burunge

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Horn of Africa Peoples
Country: Tanzania
People Cluster: Rift
Primary Language(s): Burunge (bds)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 90,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG014915
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Burungi of Tanzania

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: Folk Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

60%
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Burunge
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

93%
%
Burunge Speakers

Media Resources in Burunge:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Burunge:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Burunge bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Burungi 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 Burungi:
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 Burungi of Tanzania

The way of the wicked is like deep darkness; they do not know over what they stumble.
readProverbs 4:19

Pray that lost people will accept salvation through Christ, turn from destruction, and experience joy in the way of righteousness.

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts!
readPsalm 96:8

Pray for people here to humbly give God the glory due His name.

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
readPsalm 37:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will delight themselves in the Lord, trusting Him to give them the desires of their hearts.

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
readEphesians 1:13-14

Pray that God will work through believers near and far in bringing the lost to Himself, giving them what they need to do the task He has set before them, and helping them rest in Him because He has given them His Spirit.

Burungi Across Countries (ROP3 - 101786) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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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