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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Suafa Bedouins of Algeria

The Suafa Bedouins of Algeria, numbering approximately 151,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an Arabic-speaking population of Algeria's Oued Souf oasis region. Historically associated with oasis agriculture, desert trade, and interaction with neighboring pastoral groups, they form a regional Saharan Arab community rooted in the Souf oasis system. They are an Indigenous people in the Bedouin, Saharan people cluster of the Arab Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Tamazight, Central Atlas and their primary religion is Sunni Islam.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite: Suafa Bedouin

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Algeria
People Cluster: Bedouin, Saharan
Primary Language(s): Tamazight, Central Atlas (tzm)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 151,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG042652
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Pray for the Suafa Bedouins of Algeria

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tamazight, Central Atlas
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

70%
%
Tamazight, Central Atlas Speakers

Media Resources in Tamazight, Central Atlas:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Tamazight, Central Atlas:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tamazight, Central Atlas 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: 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 Suafa Bedouins:
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 Suafa Bedouins 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 Suafa Bedouins:
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 Suafa Bedouins 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 Suafa Bedouins:
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 Suafa Bedouins of Algeria

For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
readPsalm 97:9

Pray that those who don't yet know Him will recognize the Lord as the Most High and turn from spiritual darkness to worship Him above all else.

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.

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
readActs 4:31

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be filled with the Holy Spirit and speak God's Word with boldness, sharing the love of Jesus with those around them.

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
readMatthew 7:28-29

Pray that God will remind believers that they have His authority as they share His truth with the lost, and pray He will draw crowds of people to this message and plant it deeply in their hearts.

Bedouin, Suafa Across Countries (ROP3 - 109560) 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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