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 Somalis of Eritrea

The Somalis of Eritrea, numbering approximately 53,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a culturally rich and historically significant Cushitic ethnic group, known for their nomadic traditions, Sunni Muslim faith, and influential role in the Horn of Africa's socio-political landscape. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Somali is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Horn of Africa Peoples
Country: Eritrea
People Cluster: Somali
Primary Language(s): Somali (som)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 53,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG042708

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Pray for the Somalis of Eritrea

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!
Download Prayer Guide

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Somali
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Somali Speakers

Media Resources in Somali:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Somali:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
SIM Version✓✓
Society for International Ministries, 2008✓✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Somali 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 Somalis:
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 Somalis of Eritrea

Why, even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.
readLuke 12:7

Pray that those who don't yet know how to trust in Jesus will not be consumed by worry and anxiety, but will trust in the Father's care and provision for their daily needs and for their eternal salvation

There is no speech, nor are there words, whose voice is not heard.
readPsalm 19:3

Pray that God will lead them to His Word, and where it is not available, ask that He will raise up those who will produce gospel media in their heart language.

Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
readPsalm 127:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will build their homes in the Lord and raise their children to know and honor Him.

"For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you."
readActs 17:23

Pray that believers God sends to cross cultures will be sensitive to the spiritual needs of the people they serve, and will proclaim the truth of Christ to them in creative ways that they will understand.

Somali Across Countries (ROP3 - 109392) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

16 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
SomalisPG011954SomalisSomalia13,750,000Engaged yet UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisPG011644SomalisEthiopia8,320,000Engaged yet UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisPG011790SomalisKenya3,340,000Engaged yet UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisPG012292SomalisYemen1,245,000Engaged yet UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisPG011486SomalisDjibouti626,000Engaged yet UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisPG043631SomalisUnited States164,000Engaged yet UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisPG000683SomalisUnited Kingdom143,000Engaged yet UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisPG012254SomalisUnited Arab Emirates111,000Unengaged and UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisPG050208SomalisSweden81,000Unengaged and UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisPG011935SomalisSaudi Arabia77,500Unengaged and UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisPG015040SomalisTanzania71,000Unengaged and UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisPG047404SomalisCanada67,000Unengaged and UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisPG042708SomalisEritrea53,500Unengaged and UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisPG000434SomalisNetherlands41,000Unengaged and UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisPG000357SomalisItaly13,500Engaged yet UnreachedSomaliSunni Islam
SomalisPG012141SomalisSudan2,500Unengaged and UnreachedSomaliSunni 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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