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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The S'ilte of Ethiopia

The S'ilte of Ethiopia, numbering approximately 1,535,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a Semitic-language people who live in the southwestern reaches of Shoa Province in Ethiopia They are an Indigenous people, with Gurage as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Ethio-Semitic people cluster of the Horn of Africa Peoples. Their primary religion is Sunni Islam. They primarily speak Silt’e.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: S'ilte

Fast Facts*:

Affinity Group: Horn of Africa Peoples
Country: Ethiopia
People Cluster: Ethio-Semitic
Primary Language(s): Silt’e (stv)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 1,535,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011625
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Pray for the S'ilte of Ethiopia

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: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

98%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Silt’e
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

90%
%
Silt’e Speakers

Media Resources in Silt’e:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Silt’e:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Silt’e bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The S'ilte 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 S'ilte:
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 S'ilte of Ethiopia

For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?
readPsalm 18:31

As people look to their own efforts for hope, pray they will have the opportunity to learn and believe in the Lord, who is the only Rock worthy of their faith.

"Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."
readIsaiah 1:18

Pray that God will make a way for the gospel to reach many through means they can understand and access, that they will receive the good news with joy, and that they will experience complete forgiveness and cleansing from their sin that Jesus offers through His sacrifice.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
readPsalm 119:105

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will meditate daily on the Word of God so that, through it, they might have wisdom for the big and small decisions they face every day.

And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."
readMatthew 16:17

Pray that God who is in heaven will place believers in the lives of people who need to encounter the gospel and that He will reveal to them the truth of what they hear.

Gurage, East Across Countries (ROP3 - 102817) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountry ▼PopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
S'iltePG011625S'ilteEthiopia1,535,000Engaged yet UnreachedSilt’eSunni Islam

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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