Prototype rebuild by the IMB Innovation Team. The official site is peoplegroups.org.

People group profile · PG014937

The Hangaza of Tanzania

The Hangaza of Tanzania, numbering about 459,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Bantu people of the Ngara highlands in Tanzania's Kagera region near the Rwanda-Burundi border, culturally closer to the Rwanda-Burundi Bantu sphere than to coastal Tanzania, subsisting on banana, bean and cassava farming.

They are an indigenous people in the Bantu, Central-Lakes people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. Their primary religion is Protestantism, and they primarily speak Hangaza.

Pray for the HangazaPrint profile

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

Fast facts

Country
Tanzania
Population
459,000
Affinity group
Sub-Saharan African Peoples
People cluster
Bantu, Central-Lakes
Primary language
Hangaza (han)
Primary religion
Protestantism
Strategic Progress Index
No Longer Unreached
Evangelical
2% or Greater but Less than 5%
GSEC
2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
Lostness priority
Minimally Reached People Group
Region
Eastern Africa, Africa
Location
Kagera region: Ngara district north of Shubi [suj], southwest of Kimisi Game Reserve and Burigi Game Reserve

Where they live

Gospel status

The Hangaza are No Longer Unreached, which means 2% or more are evangelical Christians. In GSEC terms, this people group is greater than or equal to 2% evangelical.

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

Next steps for the Hangaza

  • Pray for the churches among this group to grow in faithfulness and maturity
  • Equip believers to reach the unreached peoples around them
  • Send out laborers from this people to the nations

Primary religion

Protestantism · Christianity

55% adherents

Primary language

Hangaza · Atlantic-Congo family

75% speak Hangaza

Gospel resources in Hangaza

  • Bible available, published 1938
  • JESUS Film not available
  • Radio programs not available
  • Gospel recordings not available
  • Audio resources not available
  • Bible stories not available

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

Pray for the Hangaza

  1. John 17:3. Pray that many will come to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.
  2. Psalm 27:1. Pray that new believers will be strengthened in the face of persecution, with the Lord as their stronghold.
  3. Romans 12:4–5. Pray that believers from many cultures will work together as one body so that the church is built up.
  4. Revelation 7:9. Pray for the day when people from this group stand before the throne with every nation, tribe, people and language.

Download a prayer guide

Know something we don't? Submit updates to IMB Global Research.