Quick facts about the Tuareg
- Location: Niger, Mali
- Also Known As: Tamasheq, Tamashek, Tamajeq, Tamshek, Tamsheq, Tamajaq, and others
- Status: Engaged by IMB
- Population: 1,160,000
- Primary Religion: Islam
- Number of Christians: 85 (estimated)
- Language: Tamasheq
- Formerly the “Lords of the Sahara,” they led or controlled all caravan travel
- Nomadic, most have no permanent home
- Houses are grass, millet stalk or tent
- Former shepherds, now have lost much of their means of former times.
The Tuareg are scattered across a vaste and remote area. Pray to the Lord of the harvest to call out laborers to join the work. These laborers could come from the harvest as new believers accept, are then discipled and respond to His calling on their lives.
Learn more about the Tuareg!
The Tuareg are considered mysterious because they have traditionally been very warrior like, have lived in remote areas surrounding the Sahara Desert. Tuareg men, particularly when traveling, wear turbans with only their eyes exposed, which contributes to this aura of mystery.
Most oral traditions trace their beginnings to the Berbers of North Africa. Some more obscure accounts suggest they were related to the Atlantes of the Atlas Mountains (450 B.C.), or descending from the Celtic migrations of Europe before the time of the Roman Conquest. Tuareg were prominent as shepherds and leaders of camel trade caravans across the desert as early as the 14th century. Many of the written records of Tuareg history were lost after the unsuccessful revolt of the Tuareg against the French in 1917.
Tuareg are spread across eight countries of North and West Africa. Estimates of their number vary greatly but average about two million.
Today, the majority of Tamashek live with insufficiency. Some are still trying to live as shepherds along the edges of the Sahara and others have migrated to cities in search of another employment.