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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Tigrai/Tigrinya of Eritrea

The Tigrai/Tigrinya of Eritrea, numbering approximately 1,785,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a culturally rich and historically significant Semitic-speaking group in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea, known for their Tigrinya language, Orthodox Christian traditions, and influential role in the region's history and culture They are an Diaspora people, with Tigrayan as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Ethio-Semitic people cluster of the Horn of Africa Peoples. Their primary religion is Orthodox Christianity. They primarily speak Tigrigna.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Tigrai/Tigrinya

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Horn of Africa Peoples
Country: Eritrea
People Cluster: Ethio-Semitic
Primary Language(s): Tigrigna (tir)
Primary Religion(s): Orthodox Christianity
Population: 1,785,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011533
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Pray for the Tigrai/Tigrinya of Eritrea

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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Orthodox Christianity
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Orthodox Christianity Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tigrigna
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Tigrigna Speakers

Media Resources in Tigrigna:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Tigrigna:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tigrigna bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 1), 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): Expanding Unreached People Group, (LPI: 2), 0.5% to 2% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active 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 Tigrai/Tigrinya:
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 Tigrai/Tigrinya 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 Tigrai/Tigrinya:
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 Tigrai/Tigrinya 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 Tigrai/Tigrinya:
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 Tigrai/Tigrinya of Eritrea

That they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.
readActs 17:27

Pray that those who don't yet know Christ will search diligently for God and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
readRevelation 4:11

Pray that the good news will advance and people will recognize and worship the One who created all things by His will, giving glory and honor to Him alone.

And after she was baptized, and her household as well, she urged us, saying, “If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come to my house and stay.” And she prevailed upon us.
readActs 16:15

Pray that God will bring entire families and households to faith in Him and raise up servant-leaders from among them.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
read2 Peter 3:9

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will patiently endure hardships as they share the gospel, knowing that the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise.

Tigrayan Across Countries (ROP3 - 110050) 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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