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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
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Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Somalis of Somalia

The Somalis of Somalia, numbering approximately 13,640,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a culturally rich and historically significant Cushitic ethnic group, known for their nomadic traditions, Sunni Muslim faith, and influential role in the Horn of Africa's socio-political landscape They are an Indigenous people, in the Somali people cluster of the Horn of Africa Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Sunni. They primarily speak Somali.

Somalis in Italy photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Copyrighted ©️ 2025 MarosMatousek - Shutterstock Used with permission

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Northern African and Middle Eastern Peoples
Country: Somalia
People Cluster: Somali
Primary Language(s): Somali (som)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Sunni
Population: 13,640,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011954
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Somalis of Somalia

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: Islam - Sunni
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Sunni Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Somali
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

%
Somali Speakers

Media Resources in Somali:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Somali:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Somali bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Somalis

The Somalis are Unengaged and Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Next steps for the Somalis

The Somalis 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.

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

Next steps for the Somalis

The Somalis 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.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Somalis of Somalia

Listen, my beloved brothers, has not God chosen those who are poor in the world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom, which he has promised to those who love him?
readJames 2:5

Pray for those living in despair to experience the riches of God's love and the hope of eternal life through faith in Christ.

First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way.
read1 Timothy 2:1-2

Pray that leaders and those in authority will not thwart the spread of the gospel but put their faith in Christ, have hearts that are soft toward their people, and be freed from the temptations that power can bring.

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.

To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.
read1 Corinthians 9:22

Ask God to raise up believers from around the world to go and share the hope of Jesus with the lost so that they might trust in Him and have the hope of eternal life.

Somali (ROP3 - 109392) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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