The Djiboutian Arabs of Djibouti

The Djiboutian Arabs of Djibouti, numbering approximately 80,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are described as an ethnolinguistic community of Djibouti. Djiboutian Arabs are largely descendants of Yemeni migrants, especially from the Tihama and Taiz regions, who arrived during the French colonial period to work in construction, trade, and agriculture They are an Diaspora people, with Arab, Yemeni as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Arab, Yemeni people cluster of the Arab Peoples. They mostly adhere to Shia Islam and Ta'izzi-Adeni Arabic is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Djibouti
People Cluster: Arab, Yemeni
Primary Language(s): Ta'izzi-Adeni Arabic (acq)
Primary Religion(s): Shia Islam
Population: 80,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011483
View on Joshua Project

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Shia Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

97%
%
Shia Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Ta'izzi-Adeni Arabic
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Arabic, Ta’izzi-Adeni Speakers

Media Resources in Ta'izzi-Adeni Arabic:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Ta'izzi-Adeni Arabic:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Ta'izzi-Adeni Arabic bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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 Djiboutian 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 Djiboutian Arabs of Djibouti

And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
readExodus 14:22

Pray that the God who split the sea so that the Israelites might pass through would do another great work among these people, softening the hearts of those who remain lost to the good news and saving them from their sins.

You adulterous people! Do you not know that friendship with the world is enmity with God? Therefore whoever wishes to be a friend of the world makes himself an enemy of God.
readJames 4:4

Pray that the lost will be convicted of their friendship with the world, which is hostility toward God, and that they will turn from their sin and embrace the grace and mercy of God through Christ Jesus.

He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.
read1 Peter 2:24

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember every day that Jesus' death on the cross brings real healing and restoration to their souls and joyfully share this good news with others.

And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
readRomans 10:15

Pray that God will call many believers who will obediently go and share the gospel with those who desperately need it.

Arab, Yemeni Across Countries (ROP3 - 109729) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

13 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Yemini ArabsYemini ArabsCanada7,100Engaged yet UnreachedTa'izzi-Adeni ArabicSunni Islam
Yemeni ArabsYemeni ArabsUnited States55,000Engaged yet UnreachedTa'izzi-Adeni ArabicShia Islam
Yemeni ArabsYemeni ArabsSudan35,000Unengaged and UnreachedTa'izzi-Adeni ArabicSunni Islam
Yemeni ArabsYemeni ArabsKuwait8,500Unengaged and UnreachedTa'izzi-Adeni ArabicSunni Islam
Yemeni ArabsYemeni ArabsEthiopia40,000Unengaged and UnreachedTa'izzi-Adeni ArabicSunni Islam
Yemeni ArabsYemeni ArabsEritrea71,000Unengaged and UnreachedTa'izzi-Adeni ArabicSunni Islam
Yemeni ArabsYemeni ArabsMadagascar63,500Engaged yet UnreachedTa'izzi-Adeni ArabicSunni Islam
Southern Yemeni ArabsSouthern Yemeni ArabsYemen12,170,000Engaged yet UnreachedTa'izzi-Adeni ArabicSunni Islam
Yemeni ArabsYemeni ArabsUnited Arab Emirates214,000Unengaged and UnreachedTa'izzi-Adeni ArabicSunni Islam
Yemeni ArabsYemeni ArabsSaudi Arabia259,000Unengaged and UnreachedTa'izzi-Adeni ArabicSunni Islam
Yemeni ArabsYemeni ArabsOman25,500Unengaged and UnreachedTa'izzi-Adeni ArabicSunni Islam
Yemeni ArabsYemeni ArabsEgypt1,080,000Engaged yet UnreachedTa'izzi-Adeni ArabicSunni Islam
Djiboutian ArabsDjiboutian ArabsDjibouti80,500Unengaged and UnreachedTa'izzi-Adeni ArabicShia 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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