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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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Arusha Maasai of Tanzania

The Arusha Maasai of Tanzania, numbering approximately 526,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Maa-speaking agropastoral people who lost their cattle in early nineteenth-century Maasai conflicts and settled the southwestern slopes of Mount Meru in the 1830s, prospering there as farmers distinct from other Maasai communities. They mostly adhere to Animism and Masai is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Maasai, Arusha

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Tanzania
People Cluster: Nilotic
Primary Language(s): Masai (mas)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 526,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG050320
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Pray for the Arusha Maasai of Tanzania

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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

70%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Masai
Language Family: Nilotic

100%
%
Maasai Speakers

Media Resources in Masai:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Masai:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Biblia Sinyati Version✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Masai bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Arusha Maasai 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.

Next steps for the Arusha Maasai:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Arusha Maasai of Tanzania

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
readIsaiah 40:8

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will be freed from the emptiness of fading hopes and find lasting life and truth in the unchanging Word of God.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!
readPsalm 57:11

Pray that the lost will learn about God's great love and faithfulness so that they might trust in Christ for their salvation.

The LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
readNumbers 6:26

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be blessed with peace in their lives, knowing that God is with them.

But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.
readActs 1:8

Pray that God will raise up believers who are willing to cross cultures and boldly share the good news of Jesus with the lost in this people group and from every nation.

Maasai, Arusha Across Countries (ROP3 - 100534) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress Index ▼LanguageReligion
Arusha MaasaiPG050320Arusha MaasaiTanzania526,000No Longer UnreachedMasaiAnimism

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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