Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

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
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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The Arabs of Ethiopia

The Arabs of Ethiopia, numbering approximately 13,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a diverse ethnolinguistic group whose identity is shaped by a combination of language, culture, history, and geography. Arabs are native to the Arabian Peninsula, Levant, North Africa, and parts of the Horn of Africa. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Standard Arabic is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Ethiopia
People Cluster: Arab, Arabian
Primary Language(s): Standard Arabic (arb)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 13,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011545

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Pray for the Arabs of Ethiopia

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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

70%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Standard Arabic
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Arabic, Standard Speakers

Media Resources in Standard Arabic:

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

6 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Standard Arabic:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Easy to Read Version✓✓
Good News Version✓
Sharif (Iraqi) Version✓✓✓
Sharif Version✓✓✓
Standard Arabic (Gulf)✓
Van Dyke Version - multi voice✓✓✓
Van Dyke Version - single voice✓✓✓

7 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Standard Arabic bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

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 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 Arabs of Ethiopia

And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
readMatthew 6:7-8

Pray that those who don't have a relationship with their Creator will come to know a God who hears their every need, freeing them from empty rituals and drawing them into a real, trusting relationship with Him.

“I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ to a nation that was not called by my name."
readIsaiah 65:1

Pray that the lost will be found by God, even when they are not seeking Him. Pray that He will reveal Himself to them in a way they cannot ignore and that they will respond in faith.

For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him.
readRomans 10:12

Pray that as people from different backgrounds place their faith in Christ, they will be unified by their faith Him.

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
readEphesians 6:11

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will put on the full armor of God so that they will be able to stand against the schemes of the enemy.

Arab Across Countries (ROP3 - 100425) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

23 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
ArabsPG017321ArabsArgentina1,580,000Engaged yet UnreachedSpanishSunni Islam
ArabsPG014900ArabsTanzania509,000Engaged yet UnreachedSwahili (individual language)Sunni Islam
ArabsPG016532ArabsBrazil492,000Engaged yet UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
ArabsPG006321ArabsPakistan248,000Unengaged and UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
ArabsPG007830ArabsAustralia161,000Unengaged and UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
ArabsPG000004ArabsAustria101,000Unengaged and UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
ArabsPG000078ArabsDenmark96,000Unengaged and UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
ArabsPG000580ArabsSwitzerland75,500Unengaged and UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
ArabsPG041734ArabsIndia62,500Unengaged and UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
ArabsPG014761ArabsKenya57,000Engaged yet UnreachedSwahili (individual language)Sunni Islam
ArabsPG047072ArabsGreece34,500Engaged yet UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
ArabsPG014477ArabsCongo, Democratic Republic of the32,500Unengaged and UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
ArabsPG018465ArabsMalaysia18,000Unengaged and UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
ArabsPG015486ArabsSouth Africa16,000No Longer UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
ArabsPG011545ArabsEthiopia13,500Unengaged and UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
ArabsPG000374ArabsMalta10,000Unengaged and UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
ArabsPG018478ArabsNew Zealand10,000No Longer UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
ArabsPG014463ArabsBurundi3,800Unengaged and UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
ArabsPG013266ArabsGhana3,300Unengaged and UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
ArabsPG016383ArabsJamaica2,100Unengaged and UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
ArabsPG015270ArabsComoros900Engaged yet UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
ArabsPG042248ArabsMaldives750Unengaged and UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
ArabsPG016194ArabsBarbados150Unengaged and UnreachedStandard 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.

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