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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
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Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Eritreans of Italy

The Eritreans of Italy, numbering approximately 25,000 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 mostly adhere to Tewahedo Orthodox Christianity and Tigrinya is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Eritrean

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Horn of Africa Peoples
Country: Italy
People Cluster: Ethio-Semitic
Primary Language(s): Tigrinya (tir)
Primary Religion(s): Tewahedo Orthodox Christianity
Population: 25,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG049969
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Pray for the Eritreans of Italy

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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Tewahedo Orthodox Christianity
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

66%
%
Tewahedo Orthodox Christi… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tigrinya
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

66%
%
Tigrigna Speakers

Media Resources in Tigrinya:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

4 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Tigrinya:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1991 Bible Society of Ethiopia✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tigrinya bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Eritreans 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 Eritreans:
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 Eritreans of Italy

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.
readColossians 3:5-6

Pray for God to have mercy and give those who don't yet know Him the gift of Jesus and His salvation for all who call upon His name.

I sought the LORD, and he answered me and delivered me from all my fears.
readPsalm 34:4

Pray for each who becomes a child of God to share the hope of eternity with family and friends.

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!
readPsalm 133:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be unified and love one another as God loves them.

Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.
read2 Thessalonians 3:1-3

Pray that the Word of God will spread throughout this people group and be honored. Ask God to establish His people and guard them from the evil one, testifying to this whole people group of His great faithfulness.

Tigrayan Across Countries (ROP3 - 110050) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

9 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▼
TigraiPG011487TigraiDjibouti550Engaged yet UnreachedTigrinyaTewahedo Orthodox Christianity
Tigrai/TigrinyaPG011533Tigrai/TigrinyaEritrea1,795,000Engaged yet UnreachedTigrinyaTewahedo Orthodox Christianity
Tigrai/TigrinyaPG011649Tigrai/TigrinyaEthiopia8,180,000Engaged yet UnreachedTigrinyaTewahedo Orthodox Christianity
EritreansPG042441EritreansGermany61,000Unengaged and UnreachedEnglishTewahedo Orthodox Christianity
TigraiPG042854TigraiSudan65,500Unengaged and UnreachedTigrinyaTewahedo Orthodox Christianity
TigrinyaPG047405TigrinyaCanada11,000Engaged yet UnreachedTigrinyaTewahedo Orthodox Christianity
EritreansPG049969EritreansItaly25,000Engaged yet UnreachedTigrinyaTewahedo Orthodox Christianity
EritreansPG050209EritreansSweden57,000Unengaged and UnreachedTigrinyaTewahedo Orthodox Christianity
TigrayansPG050360TigrayansUnited States60,500Unengaged and UnreachedTigrinyaTewahedo Orthodox Christianity

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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