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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

Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
readProverbs 30:5

Pray that those who don't yet know God will trust the flawless Word of God and seek refuge in Him, finding hope and salvation instead of remaining in spiritual darkness.

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
readActs 17:24-25

Pray that the good news will reach everyone in this people group and that many will come to know and serve the one true God who made the world and everything in it and lives today.

So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.
readRomans 6:11

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will lay down all evil desires, dying to sin and living for Him alone.

For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
read2 Corinthians 1:8-9

Pray that as people hear and believe the gospel, they will be faithful as they walk through trials and will have an opportunity to be a witness to others in this people group of the goodness of God.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

9 people groups

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