Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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The Iraqi Arabs of United Arab Emirates

The Iraqi Arabs of United Arab Emirates, numbering approximately 59,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an Arabic-speaking people of Iraq descended from Arab and indigenous Mesopotamian populations, distinguished by their Mesopotamian Arabic language and the cultural traditions of historic Mesopotamia. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Mesopotamian Arabic is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: United Arab Emirates
People Cluster: Arab, Levant
Primary Language(s): Mesopotamian Arabic (acm)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 59,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG042882
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Pray for the Iraqi Arabs of United Arab Emirates

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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

95%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Mesopotamian Arabic
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Arabic, Mesopotamian Speakers

Media Resources in Mesopotamian Arabic:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Mesopotamian Arabic:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Mesopotamian Arabic bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), 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.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Iraqi Arabs:
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

Pray specifically for the Iraqi Arabs of United Arab Emirates

The afflicted shall eat and be satisfied; those who seek him shall praise the LORD! May your hearts live forever!
readPsalm 22:26

Pray that the lost will feel a deep hunger for God, be drawn to Him in their affliction, and find lasting satisfaction and salvation in Him alone.

For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
readPsalm 57:10

Pray that God will work, even in the hearts of hard-to-reach people, and that they will rejoice in His steadfast love and faithfulness.

And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."
readMatthew 16:17

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will abide in Him and have assurance that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
readPsalm 139:14

Praise God for His creativity and power, and pray that He will raise up men and women from among them who are in awe of all He has done and want to go share the hope of Christ with others.

Arab, Iraqi Across Countries (ROP3 - 104056) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

17 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▲NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Iraqi ArabsPG011264Iraqi ArabsAlgeria8,700Unengaged and UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
Iraqi ArabsPG011667Iraqi ArabsFrance6,800Unengaged and UnreachedMesopotamian ArabicSunni Islam
Iraqi ArabsPG011777Iraqi ArabsJordan1,600,000Engaged yet UnreachedLevantine ArabicSunni Islam
Iraqi ArabsPG011798Iraqi ArabsKuwait14,500Engaged yet UnreachedMesopotamian ArabicSunni Islam
Iraqi ArabsPG011816Iraqi ArabsLebanon25,500Unengaged and UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
Iraqi ArabsPG012188Iraqi ArabsSyria60,500Unengaged and UnreachedMesopotamian ArabicShia Islam
Iraqi ArabsPG042328Iraqi ArabsItaly4,300Unengaged and UnreachedMesopotamian ArabicSunni Islam
Iraqi ArabsPG042374Iraqi ArabsBelgium22,000Unengaged and UnreachedMesopotamian ArabicSunni Islam
Iraqi ArabsPG042436Iraqi ArabsGermany178,000Engaged yet UnreachedMesopotamian ArabicSunni Islam
Iraqi ArabsPG042882Iraqi ArabsUnited Arab Emirates59,000Unengaged and UnreachedMesopotamian ArabicSunni Islam
Iraqi ArabsPG042889Iraqi ArabsYemen10,500Unengaged and UnreachedMesopotamian ArabicSunni Islam
Iraqi ArabsPG046490Iraqi ArabsUnited States156,000Engaged yet UnreachedMesopotamian ArabicShia Islam
Iraqi Shia ArabsPG046790Iraqi Shia ArabsIraq19,760,000Engaged yet UnreachedMesopotamian ArabicShia Islam
Iraqi ArabsPG047414Iraqi ArabsCanada86,000Engaged yet UnreachedMesopotamian ArabicShia Islam
Iraqi ArabsPG049968Iraqi ArabsGreece17,000Engaged yet UnreachedMesopotamian ArabicSunni Islam
Iraqi ArabsPG050028Iraqi ArabsNetherlands63,500Engaged yet UnreachedLevantine ArabicSunni Islam
Iraqi ArabsPG050210Iraqi ArabsSweden182,000Unengaged and UnreachedMesopotamian 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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