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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Socotran of Yemen

The Socotran of Yemen, numbering approximately 78,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are described as 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 are an Indigenous people, with Socotran as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Arab, Arabian people cluster of the Arab Peoples. 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: 78,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and 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

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), 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.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Socotran:
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

Pray specifically for the Socotran of Yemen

O Lord, you hear the desire of the afflicted; you will strengthen their heart; you will incline your ear to do justice to the fatherless and the oppressed, so that man who is of the earth may strike terror no more.
readPsalm 10:17-18

Pray that God, in accordance with His good character, will give justice to those who are oppressed by sin and that they will know that His offer of salvation is for everyone.

For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples.
readLuke 2:30

Pray that the lost will see the salvation of God, and that they will trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.

“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
readLamentations 3:24

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and walk through trials, they will be satisfied with the Lord as their portion and will place all their hope in Him.

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
readPsalm 8:1

Pray that God will raise up people who love Him and are able and willing to go to and share the hope of the gospel with those who don't know it. Pray that everyone will see His name as majestic in all the earth!

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
SocotranPG012291SocotranYemen78,500Unengaged and 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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