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

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.

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:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Somali:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
SIM Version✓✓
Society for International Ministries, 2008✓✓

2 entries

Or check out the Somali bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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

Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God's kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness. Otherwise you too will be cut off.
readRomans 11:22

Pray that God will transform those who persist in unbelief and, in His everlasting kindness, graft them into His family.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
readMatthew 13: 45-46

Pray that they will recognize the treasure of knowing Christ Jesus and be willing to give up everything else to gain Him.

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
readPsalm 37:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will delight themselves in the Lord, trusting Him to give them the desires of their hearts.

Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.
readActs 17:29

Pray that God will send out laborers to tell people of the one true God and, as the good news is shared, bring about repentance and belief as they turn from idols and follow Jesus.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

16 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▼Religion
SomalisSomalisItaly13,500Engaged yet UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisNetherlands41,000Unengaged and UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisUnited Kingdom143,000Engaged yet UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisDjibouti626,000Engaged yet UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisEthiopia8,315,000Engaged yet UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisKenya3,340,000Engaged yet UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisSaudi Arabia77,500Unengaged and UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisSomalia13,750,000Engaged yet UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisSudan2,500Unengaged and UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisUnited Arab Emirates111,000Unengaged and UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisYemen1,245,000Engaged yet UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisTanzania71,000Unengaged and UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisEritrea53,500Unengaged and UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisUnited States163,000Engaged yet UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisCanada67,000Unengaged and UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisSomalisSweden81,000Unengaged and UnreachedSomaliSunni 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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