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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Ikizu of Tanzania

The Ikizu of Tanzania, numbering approximately 224,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a Bantu-speaking people of northern Tanzania, centered in the Mara Region, whose identity is shaped by their language, rural agricultural lifestyle, strong community traditions, and a mix of traditional and world religions They are an Indigenous people, with Ikizu as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Bantu, Central-Lakes people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion. They primarily speak Ikizu.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Ikizu

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Tanzania
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-Lakes
Primary Language(s): Ikizu (ikz)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 224,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG014945
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Pray for the Ikizu 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

40%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Ikizu
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

90%
%
Ikizu Speakers

Media Resources in Ikizu:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Ikizu:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Ikizu 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: 1), 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 Active 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 Ikizu:
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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Ikizu are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Ikizu:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Ikizu 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 Ikizu:
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 Ikizu of Tanzania

But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven"
readMatthew 9:14

Pray that those who are spiritually dead will recognize their need for spiritual nourishment and turn to the One who offers true fulfillment.

More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
readRomans 5:11

Pray for the gospel to advance and for more people to be brought into God's family through the reconciliation Jesus offers them.

You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.
readPsalm 32:7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember that God is their hiding place and that He will preserve them in the midst of trials.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
readJohn 1:5

Pray that when discouraging days come, those who cross cultures for the sake of the gospel will be comforted as they remember that the light of Christ is stronger than the darkness that surrounds them.

Ikizu Across Countries (ROP3 - 103974) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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