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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Socotran of Yemen

The Socotran of Yemen, numbering approximately 78,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Yemen. They are an Indigenous people in the Arab, Arabian people cluster of the Arab Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Soqotri and their primary religion is Sunni Islam.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Yemen
People Cluster: Arab, Arabian
Primary Language(s): Soqotri (sqt)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 78,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012291
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Pray for the Socotran of Yemen

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

100%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Soqotri
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

64%
%
Soqotri Speakers

Media Resources in Soqotri:

Films:

No entries found for: Soqotri(sqt). Help build some!

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Soqotri:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Soqotri bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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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 Active 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 Socotran:
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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Socotran 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 Socotran:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Socotran are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Socotran:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Socotran of Yemen

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
readMatthew 5:44-45

Pray for those who don't know Jesus to encounter believers who are kind and compassionate and that their imitation of Christ will serve as a testimony that attracts lost people to Jesus.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
readHebrews 4:12

Pray for God's Word to be accessible to everyone in this people group in a way they will resonate with so that many will engage with it, receive it, and share it with others.

The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
readLamentations 3:25

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will trust in the goodness of the Lord as they wait on Him to answer their cries for help.

There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.
readMark 7:15

Pray for Christians to take any opportunity to share the hope of Jesus with lost people here, praying they will be wise like Jesus as they share the truth about what can defile people and what can make them clean.

Socotran Across Countries (ROP3 - 109372) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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