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People group profile · PG013590

The Tamasheq of Mauritania

The Tamasheq of Mauritania, numbering about 152,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic subgroup of the Tuareg Berber, indigenous to the Kidal Region of northeastern Mali.

They are a diaspora people in the Tuareg people cluster of the Arab Peoples. Their primary religion is Folk Islam, and they primarily speak Tamasheq.

Pray for the TamasheqPrint profile

AI-generated illustration representing the Tamasheq people
AI-generated illustration, not a photograph. Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Tamasheq

Fast facts

Country
Mauritania
Population
152,000
Affinity group
Northern African and Middle Eastern Peoples
People cluster
Tuareg
Primary language
Tamasheq (taq)
Primary religion
Folk Islam
Strategic Progress Index ?
Engaged yet Unreached
Evangelical
No Known Evangelicals
GSEC ?
Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
Lostness priority ?
Frontier Unreached People Group
Also known as
Tamasheq
Region
Western Africa, Africa
Location
Scattered

Where they live

Gospel status

The Tamasheq are Engaged yet Unreached, which means fewer than 2% are evangelical Christians, but there are sustained efforts to establish self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. In GSEC terms, 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.

  • Congregations exist No
  • Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted

Next steps for the Tamasheq

  • 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

Primary religion

Folk Islam · Islam

99% adherents

Primary language

Tamasheq · Afro-Asiatic family

100% speak Tamasheq

Gospel resources in Tamasheq

  • Bible available
  • JESUS Film available
  • Radio programs not available
  • Gospel recordings available
  • Audio resources available
  • Bible stories not available

Bibles

Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.

Pray for the Tamasheq

  1. 2 Timothy 2:2. Pray for faithful local leaders who will teach others, so that the church multiplies.
  2. Ephesians 5:8. Pray that those walking in darkness will turn to the light and live as children of light.
  3. Romans 10:14–15. Ask God to send messengers, so that people can hear, believe and call on the name of the Lord.
  4. Matthew 9:37–38. Ask the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest field.

Download a prayer guide

Tamasheq in other countries

The same people is also reported in 3 other countries.

People groupCountryPopulationStatus
Timbuktu TamasheqMali638,000Engaged yet Unreached
TuaregBurkina Faso202,000Engaged yet Unreached
Timbuktu Malian TamasheqNiger16,000Unengaged and Unreached

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