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

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
readRomans 1:18

Pray that God will have mercy and open the eyes of those who don't know Jesus, so that they can turn to the One who is able to save them from their sins.

Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
readIsaiah 55:5

Pray that those who do not know God will access the gospel, run to Him, and discover that He is the one their souls have been longing for.

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
read1 Peter 3:8

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will live in harmony with one another, showing sympathy, love, compassion, and humility.

For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received: that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures.
read1 Corinthians 15:3-4

Pray that God will raise up believers to go to the lost and faithfully proclaim the good news of Jesus' death and resurrection so that all may have an opportunity to access and believe.

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.

Scroll to Top