Somalis of Saudi Arabia (PGID: PG011935)

PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Somalis of Saudi Arabia

The Somalis of Saudi Arabia, numbering approximately 77,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a culturally rich and historically significant Cushitic ethnic group, known for their nomadic traditions, Sunni Muslim faith, and influential role in the Horn of Africa's socio-political landscape. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Somali is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Horn of Africa Peoples
Country: Saudi Arabia
People Cluster: Somali
Primary Language(s): Somali (som)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 77,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011935
View on Joshua Project

Print Profile

Submit Updates

Pray for the Somalis of Saudi Arabia

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!

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%

Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Somali
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%

Somali Speakers

Media Resources in Somali:

Films:

Title	Link
JESUS	View Film
Magdalena	View Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Somali:

Bible Name (Translation)	Video	Audio	Text
SIM Version		✓	✓
Society for International Ministries, 2008		✓	✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Somali 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: 0), 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): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent 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 Somalis:

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

Pray specifically for the Somalis of Saudi Arabia

The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
Psalm 51:17

Pray that those who want to achieve salvation through their works will be unsettled in their pursuit and that, with a broken spirit and contrite heart, they will trust in Christ.

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
2 Timothy 4:3-4

Pray that the lost will be open to the truth of the gospel and turn from false teachings and myths to the sound doctrine of Christ in faith.

Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
Psalm 51:9

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have confidence that God has turned His face from their sins and forgiven their iniquities.

And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
Romans 10:15

Pray that God will call many believers who will obediently go and share the gospel with those who desperately need it.

Somali Across Countries (ROP3 - 109392) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

Engaged yet Unreached UUPG No Longer Unreached

CountryReligion

16 people groups

People Group ID	Name ▼	Country	Population	Strategic Progress Index	Language	Religion
PG000357	Somalis	Italy	13,500	Engaged yet Unreached	Somali	Sunni Islam
PG000434	Somalis	Netherlands	41,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Somali	Sunni Islam
PG000683	Somalis	United Kingdom	143,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Somali	Sunni Islam
PG011486	Somalis	Djibouti	626,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Somali	Sunni Islam
PG011644	Somalis	Ethiopia	8,315,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Somali	Sunni Islam
PG011790	Somalis	Kenya	3,340,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Somali	Sunni Islam
PG011935	Somalis	Saudi Arabia	77,500	Unengaged and Unreached	Somali	Sunni Islam
PG011954	Somalis	Somalia	13,750,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Somali	Sunni Islam
PG012141	Somalis	Sudan	2,500	Unengaged and Unreached	Somali	Sunni Islam
PG012254	Somalis	United Arab Emirates	111,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Somali	Sunni Islam
PG012292	Somalis	Yemen	1,245,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Somali	Sunni Islam
PG015040	Somalis	Tanzania	71,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Somali	Sunni Islam
PG042708	Somalis	Eritrea	53,500	Unengaged and Unreached	Somali	Sunni Islam
PG043631	Somalis	United States	163,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Somali	Sunni Islam
PG047404	Somalis	Canada	67,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Somali	Sunni Islam
PG050208	Somalis	Sweden	81,000	Unengaged and Unreached	Somali	Sunni 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.

People Groups of the World

Countries of the World

Languages of the World

Religions of the World

Advanced Dashboard

What are People Groups?

Using Peoplegroups.org

People Group Research

Definitions and FAQs

About Us

Maps

Research Data

Resource Links