The Zaghawa of Sudan

The Zaghawa of Sudan, numbering approximately 267,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a large ethnic sub-group of the Beri (Kige), a semi-nomadic community indigenous to southwestern Libya, northeastern Chad, and western Sudan. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Zaghawa is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Zaghawa

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Sudan
People Cluster: Kanuri-Saharan
Primary Language(s): Zaghawa (zag)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 267,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG042863
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Zaghawa of Sudan

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

75%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Zaghawa
Language Family: Saharan

100%
%
Zaghawa Speakers

Media Resources in Zaghawa:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Zaghawa:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Zaghawa bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Zaghawa 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 Zaghawa:
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 Zaghawa of Sudan

Abraham said, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together.
readGenesis 22:8

Pray that God will open the ears of those who are lost to understand and believe that only shed blood takes away sin and that, like Abraham, they will believe that God Himself provides the lamb for the burnt offering, who is Jesus the final, perfect sacrifice.

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
readRomans 10:14

Pray that the gospel will advance among those who don’t know the good news of salvation in Jesus so that they might believe and trust in Jesus.

Continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving.
readColossians 4:2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will continue steadfastly in prayer, being watchful in it with thanksgiving, as they bring needs before the Lord.

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
readRomans 12:4-5

Ask God to send believers to people in other cultures and to help them use their gifts in harmony with others so that the body of Christ may be built up.

Zaghawa Across Countries (ROP3 - 111134) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
ZaghawaZaghawaUnited States250Unengaged and UnreachedZaghawaSunni Islam
ZaghawaZaghawaLibya11,500Unengaged and UnreachedZaghawaSunni Islam
ZaghawaZaghawaChad232,000Engaged yet UnreachedZaghawaSunni Islam
ZaghawaZaghawaSudan267,000Engaged yet UnreachedZaghawaSunni 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.

Scroll to Top