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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Southwest Tannese of Vanuatu

The Southwest Tannese of Vanuatu, numbering approximately 9,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as an ethnolinguistic community of Vanuatu They are an Indigenous people, with Tana (Vanuatu) as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Vanuatu people cluster of the Pacific Islander Peoples. Their primary religion is Roman Catholicism. They primarily speak Tanna, Southwest.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Vanuatu
People Cluster: Vanuatu
Primary Language(s): Tanna, Southwest (nwi)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 9,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG018432
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Pray for the Southwest Tannese of Vanuatu

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: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

50%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tanna, Southwest
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Tanna, Southwest Speakers

Media Resources in Tanna, Southwest:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Tanna, Southwest:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tanna, Southwest bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 2), 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): Marginally Reached People Group, (LPI: 4), 3% to 6% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical (GSEC: 4), this people group is greater than or equal to 2% evangelical

Next steps for the Southwest Tannese:
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 Southwest Tannese 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 Southwest Tannese:
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 Southwest Tannese 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 Southwest Tannese:
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 Southwest Tannese of Vanuatu

Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.
readLuke 12:7

Pray that those who don't yet know how to trust in Jesus will not be consumed by worry and anxiety, but will trust in the Father's care and provision for their daily needs and for their eternal salvation

For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
readPsalm 57:10

Pray that God will work, even in the hearts of hard-to-reach people, and that they will rejoice in His steadfast love and faithfulness.

"...I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
readMatthew 16:18b

Pray that God will build and grow His Church among this people.

Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father sends me, even so I am sending you."
readJohn 20:21

Ask God to raise up and send out believers cross-culturally who will go out in His authority and be sustained by His peace as they share the gospel with the lost.

Tana, Southwest Across Countries (ROP3 - 109801) 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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