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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Syrian Arabs of Iraq

The Syrian Arabs of Iraq, numbering approximately 291,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are described as a diaspora community of Syrian Arabs in Iraq They are an Diaspora people, with Arab, Syrian as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Arab, Levant people cluster of the Arab Peoples. Their primary religion is Sunni Islam. They primarily speak Arabic, Standard.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Arab, Syrian

Fast Facts*:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Iraq
People Cluster: Arab, Levant
Primary Language(s): Arabic, Standard (arb)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 291,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011694
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Syrian Arabs of Iraq

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: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

79%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Arabic, Standard
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Arabic, Standard Speakers

Media Resources in Arabic, Standard:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film
The SaviorView Film

6 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Arabic, Standard:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Easy to Read Version✓✓
Good News Version✓
Sharif (Iraqi) Version✓✓✓
Sharif Version✓✓✓
Standard Arabic (Gulf)✓
Van Dyke Version - multi voice✓✓✓
Van Dyke Version - single voice✓✓✓

7 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Arabic, Standard 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 Syrian 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 Syrian Arabs of Iraq

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.
readIsaiah 49:13

Thank the Lord for the people here and ask that His gospel will flow through this land to bring hope to those who are afflicted by the guilt of sin.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
readPsalm 16:11

Pray that God will make a way for His path of life to be revealed to many so that they may come into His presence and experience abundant joy and eternal pleasures at His right hand.

For you have need of endurance, so that when you have done the will of God you may receive what is promised.
readHebrews 10:36

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will patiently endure suffering and hardships and do God's will so that they may receive what He has promised.

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.
read1 Corinthians 9:20

Pray that believers from similar cultures will be compelled by Christ's love to reach people who don't know the gospel, and that those people will receive the good news with joy.

Arab, Syrian Across Countries (ROP3 - 109662) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

19 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Syrian Sunni ArabsPG012198Syrian Sunni ArabsSyria15,540,000Engaged yet UnreachedArabic, LevantineSunni Islam
Syrian ArabsPG049340Syrian ArabsTurkiye3,880,000Engaged yet UnreachedArabic, LevantineSunni Islam
Syrian ArabsPG042752Syrian ArabsJordan1,310,000Engaged yet UnreachedArabic, LevantineSunni Islam
Syrian ArabsPG042801Syrian ArabsSaudi Arabia815,000Engaged yet UnreachedArabic, LevantineSunni Islam
Syrian ArabsPG042455Syrian ArabsGermany584,000Engaged yet UnreachedArabic, LevantineSunni Islam
Syrian ArabsPG042761Syrian ArabsLebanon491,000Engaged yet UnreachedArabic, StandardSunni Islam
Syrian ArabsPG042886Syrian ArabsUnited Arab Emirates301,000Unengaged and UnreachedArabic, LevantineSunni Islam
Syrian ArabsPG011694Syrian ArabsIraq291,000Unengaged and UnreachedArabic, StandardSunni Islam
Syrian ArabsPG042794Syrian ArabsQatar267,000Unengaged and UnreachedArabic, StandardSunni Islam
Syrian ArabsPG050211Syrian ArabsSweden210,000Unengaged and UnreachedArabic, LevantineSunni Islam
Syrian ArabsPG043644Syrian ArabsUnited States195,000No Longer UnreachedArabic, LevantineSunni Islam
Syrian ArabsPG042758Syrian ArabsKuwait161,000Engaged yet UnreachedArabic, LevantineSunni Islam
Syrian ArabsPG042850Syrian ArabsSudan130,000Unengaged and UnreachedArabic, StandardSunni Islam
Syrian ArabsPG050027Syrian ArabsNetherlands94,000Engaged yet UnreachedArabic, LevantineSunni Islam
Syrian ArabsPG049967Syrian ArabsGreece75,500Engaged yet UnreachedArabic, LevantineSunni Islam
Syrian ArabsPG043482Syrian ArabsCanada68,000Engaged yet UnreachedArabic, StandardSunni Islam
Syrian ArabsPG011682Syrian ArabsFrance18,500Unengaged and UnreachedArabic, StandardSunni Islam
Syrian ArabsPG016350Syrian ArabsGuadeloupe900Unengaged and UnreachedArabic, LevantineSunni Islam
Syrian ArabsPG016393Syrian ArabsMartinique550Unengaged and UnreachedArabic, LevantineSunni 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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