This is something which I've noticed ever since the colours update late last year - there's bizarre, mismatched patches of tundra all over Europe. Not actual tundra, mind, this is in the map view - satellite shows nothing.
I first noticed it in Edinburgh, in the UK - there's a weird splodge here. It doesn't correspond to any actual landforms and I can find no information about it online. Zooming out a bit, I found similar colouring across the Scottish highlands. Now, fair enough, they can be quite bleak but I'm not sure I'd call them tundra! Anyway, those at least do seem to geographically make sense and I thought it was just a small issue.
Then I found the Solway Firth. What's odd here isn't just that there's a bizarre streak of this tundra across a peninsula in the estuary - it's that this peninsula doesn't exist! In fact, the entire shoreline of the map view bears virtually no resemblance to the satellite view - and it's not sand flats either - a quick hop into Google Earth to look at historical footage (ie when the tide was out) shows zero evidence of landforms resembling those on the satellite view. None of the rivers line up either.
Back to the tundra, this blob appears to continue south and rears up again by RSPB Mersehead for no reason. It's then absent for a while until we find ourselves in Creetown/Wigtown, where there's more tundra and more broken coastline. A large lump of tundra appears by Kircowan nearby and may roughly correspond with some forest borders but doesn't actually match.
Anyway, that's remote Scotland, maybe nobody checked? You wouldn't expect it in, say, built-up-North-East-England, just south of Newcastle, would you? Or covering the site of the former Redcar Steelworks? Following the coast of England south you'll find dozens of these - all coastal (I've not found any far in-land as of yet). Even the resort town of Scarborough is apparently an icy wastland (I can confirm the sea's cold, but it's definitely not tundra).
Then, suddenly, south of Wainfleet Sand on the Wash, it stops. There's none in East Anglia (that I could find), not in town, marsh or beach. All seems fine, until you follow the River Thames into London to find that Beckton Gasworks in East London is apparently a snowy plain. This is where Kubrick filmed the second half of Full Metal Jacket. But it's not just Beckton - in fact the tundra continues up the Thames, around the O2 arena, stopping 160m short of Tower Bridge. Now, I can confirm from my office window that is not tundra.
At this point I set out to explore more of the UK, and it's all over the bloody place. Here's some stretching from Weston into Wales, here's a small patch around the UK's newest nuclear reactor, some by Bournemouth, some covering Liverpool Docks, Blackpool Airport, Grimsby... this list is not exhaustive!
I thought this might just be an issue with the UK (God knows we have enough), but then today I was exploring Germany from the air and oh god it's here too - check out this spot by the village of Blowatz, some more at Rostock, the German-Polish border and more. I've also found it in Poland itself, Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Finland, Sweden, Denmark, Norway (a big patch!), Ukraine, Turkey (absolutely covered with it), Greece (same), Italy, Libya, Cyprus, Canada and more. Boy, it'd be really embarassing if there were some of this weird stuff say, 18 miles away from Google's HQ, right?
Anyway, enough examples, it's everywhere is my point. But what the heck is it? I've been through so many ideas but nothing adds up. It's clearly not tundra (except in far-north Canada or Siberia). It's not degraded land (its placement seems arbitrary). It's not sand or gravel (it's often in towns or even hills). It's not related to climate (it's visible from Edinburgh to Athens). It's not elevation, the sites range from literally underwater to several tens of meters above their surroundings. It's not flood risk (see - elevation). It's not airfields or military bases (they're a lighter grey).
So what the actual heck is this stuff?!

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Happy Monday everyone! I know it has been a bit sporadic lately but I don't think I have anymore Monday morning plans or holidays coming up. Meet the Moors in Spain!

Region: Spain

An old map to show where the Moors once helped conquer in Spain
Stratus Index Ranking (Urgency): 124
Madrid
Climate: Peninsular Spain experiences three principal climatic types: semi-arid, maritime, and Mediterranean.
Teide, the highest mountain in Spain (Tenerife, Canary Islands)
Terrain: The majority of Spain's peninsular region consists of the Meseta Central, a highland plateau rimmed and dissected by mountain ranges. Other landforms include narrow coastal plains and some lowland river valleys, the most prominent of which is the Andalusian Plain in the southwest. The country can be divided into ten natural regions or subregions: the dominant Meseta Central, the Cantabrian Mountains (Cordillera Cantabrica) and the northwest region, the Ibérico region, the Pyrenees, the Penibético region in the southeast, the Andalusian Plain, the Ebro Basin, the coastal plains, the Balearic Islands, and the Canary Islands. These are commonly grouped into four types: the Meseta Central and associated mountains, other mountainous regions, lowland regions, and islands.
The Mediterranean coast of Spain
Wildlife of Spain: Spain has a diverse array of native animals, including a wide variety of fish, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals. The country is home to some renowned species, such as the Spanish ‘Big Five’: Bearded Vulture, Spanish Imperial Eagle, Iberian Lynx, Iberian Wolf and Eurasian Brown Bear. More commonly encountered wildlife in Spain include Spanish Ibex, Cantabrian Chamois, Red and Roe Deer, and Red Squirrel. Spectacular birds seen in this region include Great Bustard, Griffon Vulture, White Stork, Montagu’s and Hen Harriers, Wallcreeper and White-winged Snowfinch.
An Iberian Wolf
Environmental Issues: Deforestation and wildfires, Air pollution – Acid rain, the destruction of the Ozone layer and the greenhouse effect are all consequences of the air pollution problem that Spain faces, Quality and quantity of water nationwide. Desertification as well as Saharan dust blowing off the west coast of Africa and over the Canary Islands (a Spanish archipelago).
Languages: Spain is a multilingual state. Spanish—featured in the 1978 Spanish Constitution as castellano ('Castilian')—has effectively been the official language of the entire country since 1931. Besides Spanish, other territorialized languages include Aragonese, Aranese, Astur-Leonese, Basque, Ceutan Arabic (Darija), Catalan, Galician, Portuguese and Tamazight, to which the Romani Caló and the sign languages may add up. The Moors may speak Arabic, particularly Hassaniyya Arabic.
Government Type: Unitary parliamentary constitutional monarchy

People: The Moors in Spain

A Moor man
Population: 11,000
Estimated Foreign Workers Needed: 1+
Beliefs: The Moors are 0% Christian, which means out of their population of 11,000, there are roughly 0 people who believe in Jesus. Thats very maybe one person for all the 11,000 unbelievers.
Moors are virtually all Sunni Muslim and part of the Malikite sect. They have adopted Arab culture and speak Hassaniyya Arabic. Pre-Islamic North Africans were a matriarchal people who had female rulers and traced their lineage through women. Moors, Tuareg and Saharawi tribes on the other hand were patriarchal before the Arab conquest. The Moors acknowledge two main Islamic brotherhoods: the Qadiri and the Tajani. The Qadiri is the most widespread group and is characterized by many secret societies that are saturated with mysticism.
History: The people known as Moors today are an offshoot of the Berber people, specifically a Hijazi Arab/Tuareg mixed tribe. When Arabs conquered North Africa in the 7th and 8th centuries, one of the first Berber people to convert where the Tuareg, who at that time dwelt on the African Red Sea coast. They helped the Arabs in their spread of Islam until they reached the Atlantic. From there the Moors and other Berber tribes conquered the Iberian Peninsula, Southern France and Italy and the island of Sicily. This kingdom was known as Al Andalusia or the Moroccan Empire. The Moors constructed cobblestone streets and multi-storied buildings. They built over 15 universities in Spain, Portugal and Morocco. The Moors, Arabs and Jews were expelled from Iberia in 1492 after King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella defeated the last of the Moorish strongholds. Today there are some Moors who have crossed the Mediterranean Sea in search of work.
Granada's Calderia Nueva resembles a North African souk
Culture: Typical qualification that all people groups can't be summed up in small paragraphs and this is an over generalization.
Though Muslims are often not welcome in that Iberian nation, Moors have the added problem of being associated with those who conquered Spain in the early 700s. For this reason, there are few Moors in Spain today. They often begin in places like Spain but try to move further north to countries like Germany with stronger economies and more jobs.

For hundreds of years, North African Muslims ruled southern Spain. Now some of their descendants are contributing to a "Moorish revival" that is regenerating parts of Andalucia, says the BBC's Sylvia Smith. The sound of sweet mint tea being poured into tiny glasses, the murmur of Arabic in the background, and piles of almond cornes de gazelle, served to customers sitting on low sofas, all suggest Morocco or Tunisia.
But step outside the shop and walk a few metres downhill and you are in Granada, Spain.
This teteria, or tea shop, is just one of dozens that festoon the historic area and have come to symbolise a significant change in the culture and economics of an important part of the city.
It was the opening of a tea shop alongside the city's first neighbourhood mosque that ignited the North African renaissance in Granada, according to Said Ekhlouf from Tetouan in northern Morocco.
The transformation is eye-catching. Dozens of brightly coloured, open-fronted stalls sell all kinds of Moroccan and Tunisian handicrafts, and the only music you will hear is Arabic, interspersed with the call to prayer.
Taking advantage of low property prices, the first arrivals in the 1980s colonised the Calderia Nueva and began, unwittingly, to introduce a modern version of Islamic Andalucian culture.
Abdul Hedi Benattia, who is a Tunisian historian as well as owning a restaurant and tea shop, claims that Islam as practised in Granada is very close to the original tolerant religion that spread across North Africa and through most of the Iberian peninsula from the 7th Century until the 14th Century.
An occasional imam in the neighbourhood mosque, Abdul Hedi meets many of the thousands of European Muslims who come on holiday to enjoy not only the Alhambra, one of Spain's most famous landmarks, but the large, new mosque built in 2002 with funding from the Emirate of Sharjah.
Overlooking the Alhambra - the palace complex built by the Muslim rulers of southern Spain in the 14th Century - this impressive mosque is at the heart of the 15,000-strong Muslim community which has made Granada its home.
Twenty years ago there were a mere 2,000 Muslims in the city - and most of them were Spanish converts.
Some of the more conservative native Spaniards demonstrate an uncompromising attitude to their neighbours.
"We defeated the Moors and sent them packing a long time ago," says Dolores Ramirez, an office cleaner.
"We don't mind them being here, so long as they behave themselves. But they are not in charge. This is a Spanish town."
Not that the North Africans seem to want to be in charge. They are content to see their businesses grow and to demonstrate that the Muslim population is a steadying and unifying force.

Taken from a BBC article.

Prayer Request:

• Pray for Moors to have their economic and spiritual needs met by God, their provider.
• Pray for Holy Spirit anointed workers to go to the Moors.
• Pray for a spiritual hunger among Moorish leaders that will lead them to open the doors of their understanding to Jesus Christ.
• Pray for an unstoppable movement to Christ in Libya, Mauritania and Spain.
• Ask the Lord to call people who are willing to go to Spain and Africa and share Christ with these peoples.
• Pray that the Holy Spirit will soften their hearts towards the Gospel.
• Ask God to call out prayer teams to break up the soil through worship and intercession.
• Ask the Lord to raise up a triumphant Church among the Moors for the glory of His name!
• Pray they would hunger to know God's love, found through faith in Christ's work and life.
• Pray against Putin and his insane little war.
• Pray for our nation (the United States), that we Christians can learn to come alongside our hurting brothers and sisters and learn to carry one another's burdens in a more Christlike manner than we have done historically.
• Pray that in this time of chaos and panic that the needs of the unreached are not forgotten by the church. Pray that our hearts continue to ache to see the unreached hear the Good News.

Brothers, my heart’s desire and prayer to God for them is that they may be saved. (Romans 10:1)
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Here are the previous weeks threads on the UPG of the Week for Reformed from 2022 (plus two from 2021 so this one post isn't so lonely). To save some space on these, all UPG posts made 2019-now are here, I will try to keep this current.

People Group	Country	Continent	Date Posted	Beliefs
Moor	Spain	Europe	09/12/2022	Islam
Bajau	Indonesia	Asia	08/29/2022	Islam
Sikh Jat	India	Asia	08/15/2022	Sikhism
Najdi Arabs	Saudi Arabia	Asia	08/08/2022	Islam
Burakumin	Japan	Asia	08/01/2022	Buddhism/Shintoism
Southern Shilha Berbers	Morocco	Africa	07/25/2022	Islam
Namassej	Bangladesh	Asia	07/18/2022	Hinduism
Banjar	Indonesia	Asia	07/11/2022	Islam
Hausa	Nigeria	Africa	06/27/2022	Islam
Nahara Makhuwa	Mozambique	Africa	06/20/2022	Islam
Somali	Ethiopia	Africa	06/13/2022	Islam
Kinja	Brazil	South America	06/06/2022	Animism
Nung	Vietnam	Asia	05/23/2022	Animism
Domari Romani	Egypt	Africa	05/16/2022	Islam
Butuo	China	Asia	05/09/2022	Animism
Rakhine	Myanmar	Asia	05/02/2022	Buddhism
Southern Uzbek	Afghanistan	Asia	04/25/2022	Islam
Mappila	India	Asia	04/18/2022	Islam
Zarma	Niger	Africa	04/11/2022	Islam
Shirazi	Tanzania	Africa	04/04/2022	Islam
Newah	Nepal	Asia	03/28/2022	Hinduism
Kabyle Berber	Algeria	Africa	03/21/2022	Islam
Huasa	Benin	Africa	03/14/2022	Islam
Macedonian Albanian	North Macedonia	Europe	03/07/2022	Islam
Chechen	Russia	Europe*	02/28/2022	Islam
Berber	France	Europe	02/14/2022	Islam
Tajik	Tajikistan	Asia	02/07/2022	Islam
Shengzha Nosu	China	Asia	01/31/2022	Animism
Yerwa Kanuri	Nigeria	Africa	01/24/2022	Islam
Somali	Somalia	Africa	01/10/2022	Islam
Tibetans	China*	Asia	01/03/2022	Buddhism
Magindanao	Philippines	Asia	12/27/2021	Islam
Gujarati	United Kingdom	Europe	12/13/2021	Hinduism

As always, if you have experience in this country or with this people group, feel free to comment or let me know and I will happily edit it so that we can better pray for these peoples! I shouldn't have to include this, but please don't come here to argue with people or to promote universalism. I am a moderator so we will see this if you do.
Here is a list of definitions in case you wonder what exactly I mean by words like "Unreached".
Here is a list of missions organizations that reach out to the world to do missions for the Glory of God.