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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Tigrai/Tigrinya of Ethiopia

The Tigrai/Tigrinya of Ethiopia, numbering approximately 8,085,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are 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 Indigenous people, in the Ethio-Semitic people cluster of the Horn of Africa Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Orthodox. They primarily speak Tigrigna.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Northern African and Middle Eastern Peoples
Country: Ethiopia
People Cluster: Ethio-Semitic
Primary Language(s): Tigrigna (tir)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Orthodox
Population: 8,085,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011649
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Pray for the Tigrai/Tigrinya of Ethiopia

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Christianity - Orthodox
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

%
Christianity - Orthodox Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tigrigna
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

%
Tigrigna Speakers

Media Resources in Tigrigna:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Tigrigna:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tigrigna bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Tigrai/Tigrinya

The Tigrai/Tigrinya are Unengaged and Unreached, 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.

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

Next steps for the Tigrai/Tigrinya

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.

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

Next steps for the Tigrai/Tigrinya

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.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Tigrai/Tigrinya of Ethiopia

For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm!
readPsalm 47:7

Pray for those who live for idols that will never satisfy their hearts, asking that someone will tell them that God is the King of all the earth so that they will turn to Him in repentance and praise.

Then the LORD God formed the man of dust from the ground and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life, and the man became a living creature.
readGenesis 2:7

Pray that Christians will be able to share the hope of Christ with suffering people and that He will breathe new life into their souls.

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
readJohn 10:28

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have assurance of eternal life, knowing that no one can snatch them out of the loving hand of Jesus.

Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!
readPsalm 149:3

Pray that God will send His people across cultures to share the gospel so that those who don't yet know the truth about Him might praise His name and share the hope of Christ with others.

Tigrayan (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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