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 Aari of Ethiopia

The Aari of Ethiopia, numbering approximately 480,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a South Omotic-speaking people of southwestern Ethiopia centered around Jinka and the surrounding highlands, known for intensive farming, strong clan traditions, and a religious landscape shaped by both indigenous spiritual traditions and Christianity. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Aari is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Horn of Africa Peoples
Country: Ethiopia
People Cluster: Omotic
Primary Language(s): Aari (aiw)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 480,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG011548
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Pray for the Aari of Ethiopia

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: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

40%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Aari
Language Family: South Omotic

70%
%
Aari Speakers

Media Resources in Aari:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Aari:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Aari bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Aari are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Aari:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Aari of Ethiopia

And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you."
read1 Samuel 13:13a

Pray that those who are walking in disobedience will recognize their sin and to turn to God.

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.

But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.
read1 Peter 3:15

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will always be prepared to share the reason for the hope that they have in Jesus with gentleness and respect.

Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!"
readIsaiah 40:9

Pray for God to send and sustain believers to go and herald the good news to the lost here.

Aari Across Countries (ROP3 - 100496) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▲Religion
AariPG011548AariEthiopia480,000No Longer UnreachedAariEthnoreligion

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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