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The Socotran of Yemen

The Socotran of Yemen, numbering approximately 79,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a South Arabian people of Socotra island who were Nestorian Christians from the fourth century until the Mehri Sultanate's 1480 conquest brought gradual Islamization, still speaking Soqotri, a Modern South Arabian tongue predating classical Arabic. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Soqotri is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Yemen
People Cluster: Arab, Arabian
Primary Language(s): Soqotri (sqt)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 79,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012291
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Pray for the Socotran of Yemen

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

100%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Soqotri
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

64%
%
Soqotri Speakers

Media Resources in Soqotri:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Soqotri:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Soqotri bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Socotran 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 Socotran:
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 Socotran of Yemen

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
readIsaiah 40:8

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will be freed from the emptiness of fading hopes and find lasting life and truth in the unchanging Word of God.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
read1 John 1:5

As mobile phones, radio, and satellite television, and other technologies become more available worldwide, pray for people who are developing digital gospel resources so that others can easily access the gospel.

Seek the LORD and his strength; seek his presence continually!
readPsalm 105:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and may feel weak in their current circumstances, they will seek the Lord's presence and persevere in the Lord's strength.

For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
read2 Corinthians 1:5

When any who might believe suffer for the sake of the gospel, ask God to deepen their understanding of His grace so that they may share it freely with those who have not received it.

Socotran Across Countries (ROP3 - 109372) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
SocotranPG012291SocotranYemen79,000Engaged yet UnreachedSoqotriSunni 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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