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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Southwest Tannese of Vanuatu

The Southwest Tannese of Vanuatu, numbering approximately 8,900 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Vanuatu. They are an Indigenous people, in the Vanuatu people cluster of the Pacific Islander Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Roman Catholicism. They primarily speak Tanna, Southwest.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Southwest Tannese

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
Country: Vanuatu
People Cluster: Vanuatu
Primary Language(s): Tanna, Southwest (nwi)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Roman Catholicism
Population: 8,900
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG018432
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Southwest Tannese of Vanuatu

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Christianity - Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

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Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tanna, Southwest
Language Family: Austronesian

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Media Resources in Tanna, Southwest:

Films:

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Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Tanna, Southwest:

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tanna, Southwest bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Southwest Tannese

The Southwest Tannese 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 Southwest Tannese

The Southwest Tannese 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 Southwest Tannese

The Southwest Tannese 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 Southwest Tannese of Vanuatu

Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me! O LORD, be my helper!
readPsalm 30:10

Pray that people in the depths of despair and suffering and living outside of relationship with Christ will cry out to the Lord and find help, peace, and joy in Him.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
read2 Peter 3:9

Pray that the lost will not perish but come to repentance and that God's patience and long-suffering will lead them to salvation.

For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
read1 Peter 2:25

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will proclaim the good news and the lost will recognize their need for the Shepherd and turn to Jesus Christ in faith.

And thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, but as it is written, "Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand."
readRomans 15:20-21

Pray that God will send believers to cross cultures and proclaim the gospel where Christ has not been named, so that the nations might glorify God for His mercy.

Tana, Southwest (ROP3 - 109801) 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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