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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Sidama of Ethiopia

The Sidama of Ethiopia, numbering approximately 5,295,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Ethiopia. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Sidamo is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Horn of Africa Peoples
Country: Ethiopia
People Cluster: Sidama
Primary Language(s): Sidamo (sid)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 5,295,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG011635
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Pray for the Sidama 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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

86%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sidamo
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

95%
%
Sidamo Speakers

Media Resources in Sidamo:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Sidamo:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2015 Bible Society of Ethiopia✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Sidamo bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Sidama 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 Sidama:
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 Sidama of Ethiopia

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.
readEphesians 2:4-5

Pray that those who have not yet received new life will be made alive together with Christ, saved by grace and raised up with Him to newness of life.

Behold, you shall call a nation that you do not know, and a nation that did not know you shall run to you, because of the LORD your God, and of the Holy One of Israel, for he has glorified you.
readIsaiah 55:5

Pray that those who do not know God will access the gospel, run to Him, and discover that He is the one their souls have been longing for.

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.
readMatthew 18:20

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be encouraged as they remember that Jesus is with them when they gather in His name.

And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you.
readLuke 10:6

Pray that, as people come to faith in Christ and want to share it with others, they will be welcomed into homes and received well so that they can share message of hope with many people.

Sidama Across Countries (ROP3 - 108499) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
SidamaPG011635SidamaEthiopia5,295,000No Longer UnreachedSidamoProtestantism

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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