The Sudanese Arabs of Saudi Arabia

The Sudanese Arabs of Saudi Arabia, numbering approximately 478,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a culturally rich group formed through centuries of admixture between indigenous Africans and Arab immigrants, characterized by their Sunni Muslim faith, Arabic language, and influential role in Sudan's socio-political landscape.. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Sudanese Arabic is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Arab, Sudanese

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Saudi Arabia
People Cluster: Arab, Sudan
Primary Language(s): Sudanese Arabic (apd)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 478,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011936
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Sudanese Arabs 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

97%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sudanese Arabic
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Arabic, Sudanese Speakers

Media Resources in Sudanese Arabic:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Sudanese Arabic:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Sharif (Sudanese) Version✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Sudanese Arabic 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 Sudanese Arabs:
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 Sudanese Arabs of Saudi Arabia

And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."
readLuke 1:46-47

Pray that those who are lost will recognize their need for a Savior and joyfully embrace the mercy that God offers.

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
readRomans 1:19-20

Pray that God will use His creation – the “things that have been made” – to spark a fresh and passionate curiosity among them to draw near to the Maker and that, as they seek Him, He will make a way for them to hear the gospel and receive it with joy.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
readGalatians 3:28

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be united in Christ across all differences of ethnicity, social status, and gender.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
readJohn 1:12

Pray that believers will have the opportunity to clearly share the good news with the lost here, so that all people can be invited to trust in Jesus and become children of God.

Arab, Sudanese Across Countries (ROP3 - 109571) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

16 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Sudanese ArabsSudanese ArabsSudan15,870,000Engaged yet UnreachedSudanese ArabicSunni Islam
Sudanese ArabsSudanese ArabsEgypt4,330,000Unengaged and UnreachedSudanese ArabicSunni Islam
Sudanese ArabsSudanese ArabsYemen586,000Unengaged and UnreachedSudanese ArabicSunni Islam
Sudanese ArabsSudanese ArabsSaudi Arabia478,000Unengaged and UnreachedSudanese ArabicSunni Islam
Sudanese ArabsSudanese ArabsChad376,000Engaged yet UnreachedSudanese ArabicSunni Islam
Sudanese ArabsSudanese ArabsEthiopia267,000Engaged yet UnreachedSudanese ArabicSunni Islam
Sudanese ArabsSudanese ArabsLibya258,000Unengaged and UnreachedSudanese ArabicSunni Islam
Sudanese ArabsSudanese ArabsUnited Arab Emirates85,500Unengaged and UnreachedSudanese ArabicSunni Islam
Sudanese ArabsSudanese ArabsQatar56,500Unengaged and UnreachedSudanese ArabicSunni Islam
Sudanese ArabsSudanese ArabsUnited States52,500Unengaged and UnreachedSudanese ArabicSunni Islam
Sudanese ArabsSudanese ArabsEritrea33,000Unengaged and UnreachedSudanese ArabicSunni Islam
Sudanese ArabsSudanese ArabsOman23,500Unengaged and UnreachedSudanese ArabicSunni Islam
Sudanese ArabsSudanese ArabsCanada22,000Unengaged and UnreachedSudanese ArabicSunni Islam
Sudanese ArabsSudanese ArabsNetherlands7,700Unengaged and UnreachedSudanese ArabicSunni Islam
Sudanese ArabsSudanese ArabsItaly5,000Engaged yet UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
Sudanese ArabsSudanese ArabsFrance3,300Unengaged and UnreachedSudanese ArabicSunni 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.

Scroll to Top