The Nuer of South Sudan

The Nuer of South Sudan, numbering approximately 1,770,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic subgroup of the Nuer, a Nilotic ethnic group concentrated in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan. They mostly adhere to African Traditional Religion and Nuer is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Nuer

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: South Sudan
People Cluster: Nilotic
Primary Language(s): Nuer (nus)
Primary Religion(s): African Traditional Religion
Population: 1,770,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Concentrated CP Activity
People Group ID: PG046788
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Nuer of South Sudan

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: African Traditional Religion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

70%
%
African Traditional Relig… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Nuer
Language Family: Nilotic

100%
%
Nuer Speakers

Media Resources in Nuer:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Nuer:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Bible Society of South Sudan✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Nuer bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Nuer 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.

Next steps for the Nuer:
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

Pray specifically for the Nuer of South Sudan

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
readEphesians 6:12

Pray for those ensnared by the darkness of this world, that they will recognize the spiritual forces at work and turn to the light of Christ.

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.

Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.
readIsaiah 41:10

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will not fear, for the Lord is with them, and He will strengthen, help, and uphold them with His righteous right hand.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
readRomans 1:16

Pray that God will raise up sons and daughters who, like Paul, will be bold to share the gospel across cultural barriers so that many might receive salvation.

Nuer, Naath Across Countries (ROP3 - 106990) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 people groups

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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