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The Northern Sotho of South Africa

The Northern Sotho of South Africa, numbering approximately 4,305,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Sotho-Tswana ethnolinguistic people indigenous to northeastern South Africa whose identity is rooted in Northern Sotho (Sepedi and related dialects), traditional chiefdoms, and a cultural heritage centered in Limpopo Province. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Pedi is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Northern Sotho

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: South Africa
People Cluster: Bantu, Sotho-Tswana
Primary Language(s): Pedi (nso)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 4,305,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG033365
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Pray for the Northern Sotho of South Africa

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: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

82%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Pedi
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Sotho, Northern Speakers

Media Resources in Pedi:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Pedi:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Pedi bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Northern Sotho 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 Northern Sotho:
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 Northern Sotho of South Africa

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
readMatthew 9:36

Pray that those who have no hope and are in need of a Savior will be comforted by the Good Shepherd, who seeks to gather the lost and weary into His care.

And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
read1 John 4:21

Pray that the good news of God's love will reach everyone in this people group, and that His love will compel them to love others as Christ has loved us.

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
readIsaiah 53:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will find comfort and spiritual healing as they remember the wounds of Christ, who understands their suffering because He also walked through suffering on their behalf.

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe."
readJohn 6:35-36

Praise God for the things such as bread that He has provided as natural conversation bridges to the gospel. Pray that believers will use any bridges He provides to share the gospel with those who do not yet know the good news.

Pedi Across Countries (ROP3 - 107413) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Northern SothoPG033365Northern SothoSouth Africa4,305,000No Longer UnreachedPediProtestantism
PediPG015670PediZimbabwe183,000Engaged yet UnreachedPediProtestantism

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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