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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Bilen of Eritrea

The Bilen of Eritrea, numbering approximately 78,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are described as an ethnic group whose homeland for centuries was the Keren region of Eritrea and the Tigray province of Ethiopia They are an Indigenous people, with Bilen (Northern Agaw) as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Agau people cluster of the Horn of Africa Peoples. Their primary religion is Sunni Islam. They primarily speak Bilen.

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

Fast Facts*:

Affinity Group: Horn of Africa Peoples
Country: Eritrea
People Cluster: Agau
Primary Language(s): Bilen (byn)
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 Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011523
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Pray for the Bilen 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

68%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bilen
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

94%
%
Bilen Speakers

Media Resources in Bilen:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Bilen:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Bilen 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 Bilen:
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 Bilen of Eritrea

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
readJohn 14:6

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will recognize Him as the only way to the Father and follow Him in faith.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
readPsalm 16:11

Pray that God will make a way for His path of life to be revealed to many so that they may come into His presence and experience abundant joy and eternal pleasures at His right hand.

It will be said on that day, “Behold, this is our God; we have waited for him, that he might save us. This is the LORD; we have waited for him; let us be glad and rejoice in his salvation.”
readIsaiah 25:9

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will proclaim and rejoice in His salvation.

You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.
read2 Corinthians 1:11

Pray that many people will join in praying for the spread of the gospel here, and that God will answer these prayers by drawing more people to Himself.

Bilen Across Countries (ROP3 - 101444) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
BilenPG011523BilenEritrea78,500Unengaged and UnreachedBilenSunni 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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