The Moroccan Arabs of Italy

The Moroccan Arabs of Italy, numbering approximately 517,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Arabic-speaking people of North Africa whose culture reflects the interaction of Arab, Amazigh (Berber), Islamic, Mediterranean, Saharan, African, and Andalusian influences within the distinctive historical and social context of Morocco. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Moroccan Arabic is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite: Arab, Moroccan

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Italy
People Cluster: Arab, Maghreb
Primary Language(s): Moroccan Arabic (ary)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 517,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG042325
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Moroccan Arabs of Italy

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: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

100%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Moroccan Arabic
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Arabic, Moroccan Speakers

Media Resources in Moroccan Arabic:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

3 films

Bible Resources in Moroccan Arabic:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Morocco Bible Society, 2012✓

1 entry

Or check out the Moroccan Arabic bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Moroccan Arabs 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 Moroccan Arabs:
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 Moroccan Arabs of Italy

The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.
readMatthew 4:16

Pray that those living in darkness and the shadow of death will see a great light and turn to the Lord for salvation.

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
read2 Timothy 4:3-4

Pray that the lost will be open to the truth of the gospel and turn from false teachings and myths to the sound doctrine of Christ in faith.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
readJohn 14:3

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have hope in trials because they know that Jesus will one day take them to be with Him forever.

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.
read1 Corinthians 9:20

Pray that believers from similar cultures will be compelled by Christ's love to reach people who don't know the gospel, and that those people will receive the good news with joy.

Arab, Moroccan Across Countries (ROP3 - 106804) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

15 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▲CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsBelgium232,000Engaged yet UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsGibraltar1,700Unengaged and UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsNetherlands411,000Engaged yet UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsPortugal24,000Unengaged and UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsSpain882,000Engaged yet UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsUnited Kingdom41,000Unengaged and UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsFrance853,000Engaged yet UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsLibya11,500Unengaged and UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsMorocco21,310,000Engaged yet UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsItaly517,000Engaged yet UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsGermany137,000Unengaged and UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsAlgeria187,000Engaged yet UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsUnited States122,000Engaged yet UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsCanada111,000Engaged yet UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni Islam
Moroccan ArabsMoroccan ArabsWestern Sahara417,000Unengaged and UnreachedMoroccan ArabicSunni 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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