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The Southern Sotho of South Africa

The Southern Sotho of South Africa, numbering approximately 5,440,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Sotho-Tswana ethnic group indigenous to Lesotho and South Africa. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Southern Sotho is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Sotho, Southern

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: South Africa
People Cluster: Bantu, Sotho-Tswana
Primary Language(s): Southern Sotho (sot)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 5,440,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG015533
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Pray for the Southern Sotho of South Africa

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: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

79%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Southern Sotho
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

64%
%
Sotho, Southern Speakers

Media Resources in Southern Sotho:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Southern Sotho:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Southern Sotho bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Southern Sotho 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 Southern Sotho:
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 Southern Sotho of South Africa

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
readPsalm 73:26

Pray that those who are lost and struggling to find hope will find their strength and hope in God, recognizing Him as their portion and deliverer forever.

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts!
readPsalm 96:8

Pray for people here to humbly give God the glory due His name.

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.

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe."
readJohn 6:35-36

Praise God for the things such as bread that He has provided as natural conversation bridges to the gospel. Pray that believers will use any bridges He provides to share the gospel with those who do not yet know the good news.

Sotho Across Countries (ROP3 - 109431) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Southern SothoPG015533Southern SothoSouth Africa5,440,000No Longer UnreachedSouthern SothoProtestantism
Southern SothoPG015283Southern SothoLesotho1,945,000Engaged yet UnreachedSouthern SothoRoman Catholicism
SothoPG015558SothoEswatini6,100No Longer UnreachedSouthern SothoProtestantism
BasothoPG047274BasothoUnited States300No Longer UnreachedSouthern SothoProtestantism

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 Data Standards section.

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