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
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Iraqi Arabs of United Arab Emirates

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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

Bible Resources in Mesopotamian Arabic:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Mesopotamian Arabic bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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

For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with him is plentiful redemption.
readPsalm 130:7b

Pray for those who are unaware of God's steadfast love that is offered to them through Jesus Christ to learn the truth and experience His plentiful redemption.

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts!
readPsalm 96:8

Pray for people here to humbly give God the glory due His name.

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.

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
readMatthew 7:28-29

Pray that God will remind believers that they have His authority as they share His truth with the lost, and pray He will draw crowds of people to this message and plant it deeply in their hearts.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

17 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▼CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Iraqi Shia ArabsIraqi Shia ArabsIraq19,750,000Engaged yet UnreachedMesopotamian ArabicShia Islam
Iraqi ArabsIraqi ArabsGermany178,000Engaged yet UnreachedMesopotamian ArabicSunni Islam
Iraqi ArabsIraqi ArabsSweden182,000Unengaged and UnreachedMesopotamian ArabicSunni Islam
Iraqi ArabsIraqi ArabsNetherlands63,500Engaged yet UnreachedLevantine ArabicSunni Islam
Iraqi ArabsIraqi ArabsGreece17,000Engaged yet UnreachedMesopotamian ArabicSunni Islam
Iraqi ArabsIraqi ArabsCanada86,000Engaged yet UnreachedMesopotamian ArabicShia Islam
Iraqi ArabsIraqi ArabsUnited States156,000Engaged yet UnreachedMesopotamian ArabicShia Islam
Iraqi ArabsIraqi ArabsYemen10,500Unengaged and UnreachedMesopotamian ArabicSunni Islam
Iraqi ArabsIraqi ArabsUnited Arab Emirates59,000Unengaged and UnreachedMesopotamian ArabicSunni Islam
Iraqi ArabsIraqi ArabsAlgeria8,700Unengaged and UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
Iraqi ArabsIraqi ArabsBelgium22,000Unengaged and UnreachedMesopotamian ArabicSunni Islam
Iraqi ArabsIraqi ArabsItaly4,300Unengaged and UnreachedMesopotamian ArabicSunni Islam
Iraqi ArabsIraqi ArabsSyria60,500Unengaged and UnreachedMesopotamian ArabicShia Islam
Iraqi ArabsIraqi ArabsLebanon25,500Unengaged and UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
Iraqi ArabsIraqi ArabsKuwait14,500Engaged yet UnreachedMesopotamian ArabicSunni Islam
Iraqi ArabsIraqi ArabsJordan1,600,000Engaged yet UnreachedLevantine ArabicSunni Islam
Iraqi ArabsIraqi ArabsFrance6,800Unengaged 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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