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The Coastal Swahili of Tanzania

The Coastal Swahili of Tanzania, numbering approximately 1,095,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a people whose ethnogenesis is a relatively recent phenomenon, and ethnologists have had difficulty describing them. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Swahili (individual language) is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Coastal Swahili

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Tanzania
People Cluster: Bantu, Swahili
Primary Language(s): Swahili (individual language) (swh)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 1,095,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG015047
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Pray for the Coastal Swahili 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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Swahili (individual language)
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Swahili Speakers

Media Resources in Swahili (individual language):

Films:
Title Link
JESUS View Film
JESUS View Film
Magdalena View Film
The Savior View Film

4 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Swahili (individual language):

Bible Name (Translation) Video Audio Text
Habari Njema (Interconfessional) ✓ ✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Swahili (individual language) bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Coastal Swahili 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 Coastal Swahili:
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 Coastal Swahili of Tanzania

Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
readLuke 15:7

Pray that God will convict the lost of their sin, give them an urgency to run to Him for forgiveness, and feel His welcoming arms around them when they turn to Him.

Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.
readActs 18:8

Pray that rulers and leaders will access the gospel, respond in faith, and be baptized, uniting with Christ and His Church, and influence others to follow Him.

You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.
readPsalm 32:7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember that God is their hiding place and that He will preserve them in the midst of trials.

Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.
read2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Pray that as people hear and believe the gospel, they will serve others in Jesus' name, and the lost will have an opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel.

Swahili Across Countries (ROP3 - 109644) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

17 people groups

Photo People Group ID Name Country Population ▲ Strategic Progress Index Language Religion
Swahili PG015482 Swahili Seychelles 600 Engaged yet Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Swahili PG015279 Swahili Comoros 1,200 Engaged yet Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Swahili PG015141 Swahili Uganda 5,600 Unengaged and Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Swahili PG043480 Swahili Canada 9,300 Unengaged and Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Swahili PG015372 Swahili Mayotte 10,500 Engaged yet Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Swahili PG014471 Swahili Burundi 15,000 Unengaged and Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Swahili PG015420 Swahili Mozambique 18,500 Engaged yet Unreached Swahili (individual language) Folk Islam
Swahili PG014886 Swahili Rwanda 21,000 Unengaged and Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Black Africans PG012226 Black Africans United Arab Emirates 31,000 Engaged yet Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Swahili PG012145 Swahili Sudan 34,000 Unengaged and Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Swahili PG015634 Swahili Zambia 39,500 No Longer Unreached Swahili (individual language) Ethnoreligion
Bantu Swahili PG011942 Bantu Swahili Somalia 55,500 Unengaged and Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Coastal Swahili PG033493 Coastal Swahili Kenya 60,000 Engaged yet Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Central Swahili PG014535 Central Swahili Congo, Democratic Republic of the 64,500 Unengaged and Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Swahili PG047306 Swahili United States 82,000 No Longer Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Arabized Africans PG011916 Arabized Africans Saudi Arabia 555,000 Unengaged and Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni Islam
Coastal Swahili PG015047 Coastal Swahili Tanzania 1,095,000 Engaged yet Unreached Swahili (individual language) Sunni 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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