The Northern Saami of Norway

The Northern Saami of Norway, numbering approximately 44,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an indigenous Sámi people of northern Norway whose homeland lies within Sápmi across the Nordic north, forming the largest Sámi ethnolinguistic community and maintaining Northern Sámi cultural traditions and language They are an Indigenous people, with Saami as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Finno-Ugric, Saami people cluster of the Eurasian Peoples. They mostly adhere to Unaffiliated and Northern Sami is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Northern Saami

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: Norway
People Cluster: Finno-Ugric, Saami
Primary Language(s): Northern Sami (sme)
Primary Religion(s): Unaffiliated
Population: 44,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG000451
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Northern Saami of Norway

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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Unaffiliated
Religious Affiliation: Unaffiliated

60%
%
Unaffiliated Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Northern Sami
Language Family: Uralic

45%
%
Saami, North Speakers

Media Resources in Northern Sami:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Northern Sami:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Northern Sami bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Northern Saami 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 Northern Saami:
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

Pray specifically for the Northern Saami of Norway

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
readRomans 1:20

As God's creation declares His glory, pray that multitudes who don't know Him will see the works of His hands and desire to know more about the Creator.

Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!
readPsalm 96:9

Pray that many who do not yet know Jesus will come to know Him and worship Him in the splendor of His holiness.

But recall the former days when, after you were enlightened, you endured a hard struggle with sufferings, sometimes being publicly exposed to reproach and affliction, and sometimes being partners with those so treated.
readHebrews 10:32-33

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember the day of their salvation and persevere in their faith despite hardships and suffering.

And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
readMark 5:20

Pray that God will bring people who appear beyond hope to faith in Jesus and that they will then go and tell others of the marvelous things He has done.

Saami, Northern Across Countries (ROP3 - 107458) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 people groups

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

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