The Tambaro of Ethiopia

The Tambaro of Ethiopia, numbering approximately 160,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Cushitic-speaking subgroup closely related to the Kambaata of southern Ethiopia, whose homeland once formed part of the historic Kambaata kingdom before its conquest by Emperor Menelik II in the late nineteenth century. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Kambaata is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Tambaro

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Horn of Africa Peoples
Country: Ethiopia
People Cluster: Sidama
Primary Language(s): Kambaata (ktb)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 160,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG011648
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Tambaro 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

76%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kambaata
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Kambaata Speakers

Media Resources in Kambaata:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Kambaata:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Bible Society of Ethiopia✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Kambaata bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Tambaro 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 Tambaro:
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 Tambaro of Ethiopia

For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
readPsalm 1:6

As many look for hope in worldly pleasures, pray they will hear and accept salvation through Christ, turn from destruction, and experience joy in the way of righteousness.

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.’ In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
readJob 1:20-22

Pray that those who mourn will worship God in the midst of their suffering and loss, recognizing He is the source of all good things and that He is worthy of their praise and trust.

He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.
readRevelation 21:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and walk through challenges, they will find comfort in God's promise of a beautiful future when there is no pain or suffering for those who belong to Christ.

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
readActs 17:30

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will boldly and lovingly declare that God commands all people everywhere to repent.

Timbaro Across Countries (ROP3 - 115963) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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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