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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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The Tigrai/Tigrinya of Eritrea

The Tigrai/Tigrinya of Eritrea, numbering approximately 1,795,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a culturally rich and historically significant Semitic-speaking group in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea, known for their Tigrinya language, Orthodox Christian traditions, and influential role in the region's history and culture. They mostly adhere to Tewahedo Orthodox Christianity and Tigrinya is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Tigrai/Tigrinya

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Horn of Africa Peoples
Country: Eritrea
People Cluster: Ethio-Semitic
Primary Language(s): Tigrinya (tir)
Primary Religion(s): Tewahedo Orthodox Christianity
Population: 1,795,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011533
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Pray for the Tigrai/Tigrinya 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!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Tewahedo Orthodox Christianity
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

97%
%
Tewahedo Orthodox Christi… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tigrinya
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Tigrigna Speakers

Media Resources in Tigrinya:

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

4 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Tigrinya:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1991 Bible Society of Ethiopia✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tigrinya bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Tigrai/Tigrinya are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Tigrai/Tigrinya:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Tigrai/Tigrinya of Eritrea

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
readRom 6:23

Pray that those who haven't heard yet will hear and believe that the wages of their sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
readJohn 3:16

Pray that the lost will seek God and learn that they have a heavenly Father who loves them and wants them to live eternally with Him.

Therefore do not throw away your confidence, which has a great reward.
readHebrews 10:35

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will hold unswervingly to their faith and to their confidence in Christ, which has a great reward.

Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!
readPsalm 34:3

Pray that God will raise up believers who will go to those in this people group who do not yet follow Jesus, and that they will invite many to magnify the Lord with them so that His fame will spread to the ends of the earth.

Tigrayan Across Countries (ROP3 - 110050) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

9 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Tigrai/TigrinyaPG011649Tigrai/TigrinyaEthiopia8,185,000Engaged yet UnreachedTigrinyaTewahedo Orthodox Christianity
Tigrai/TigrinyaPG011533Tigrai/TigrinyaEritrea1,795,000Engaged yet UnreachedTigrinyaTewahedo Orthodox Christianity
TigraiPG042854TigraiSudan65,500Unengaged and UnreachedTigrinyaTewahedo Orthodox Christianity
EritreansPG042441EritreansGermany61,000Unengaged and UnreachedEnglishTewahedo Orthodox Christianity
TigrayansPG050360TigrayansUnited States60,500Unengaged and UnreachedTigrinyaTewahedo Orthodox Christianity
EritreansPG050209EritreansSweden57,000Unengaged and UnreachedTigrinyaTewahedo Orthodox Christianity
EritreansPG049969EritreansItaly25,000Engaged yet UnreachedTigrinyaTewahedo Orthodox Christianity
TigrinyaPG047405TigrinyaCanada11,000Engaged yet UnreachedTigrinyaTewahedo Orthodox Christianity
TigraiPG011487TigraiDjibouti550Engaged yet UnreachedTigrinyaTewahedo Orthodox Christianity

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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