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The Borana of Ethiopia

The Borana of Ethiopia, numbering approximately 978,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Cushitic Oromo people of Ethiopia's Borena Zone and northern Kenya practicing the uninterrupted Gadaa governance system, which selects nine leaders every eight years and drove their 12th-15th century territorial expansion. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Horn of Africa Peoples
Country: Ethiopia
People Cluster: Oromo
Primary Language(s): Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo (gax)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 978,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG011558
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Pray for the Borana 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: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

90%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Oromo, Borana-Arsi-Guji Speakers

Media Resources in Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1994 Bible Society of Kenya✓
2007 Bible Society of Ethiopia✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Borana-Arsi-Guji Oromo bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Borana 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 Borana:
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 Borana of Ethiopia

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
readJohn 3:14-15

Pray that the lost among them will look to the One lifted up on the cross, believing in Him and receiving eternal life.

O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
readPsalm 104:24

Pray that they will see the wisdom and power of God in His creation and praise Him for His mighty works.

I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.
readJohn 10:28

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have assurance of eternal life, knowing that no one can snatch them out of the loving hand of Jesus.

He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
readPsalm 23:3

Pray for believers to go and share the gospel with others here. Ask that God will restore their souls and lead them in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Borana Across Countries (ROP3 - 101615) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▼CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
BoranaPG011558BoranaEthiopia978,000No Longer UnreachedBorana-Arsi-Guji OromoSunni Islam
BoranaPG014769BoranaKenya215,000Engaged yet UnreachedBorana-Arsi-Guji OromoSunni 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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