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The Saotomense of Sao Tome and Principe

The Saotomense of Sao Tome and Principe, numbering approximately 215,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnic community of mixed Indigenous and European ancestry originating in São Tomé and Príncipe. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Sãotomense is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Sao Tome and Principe
People Cluster: Other Sub-Saharan African
Primary Language(s): Sãotomense (cri)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 215,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG014215
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Pray for the Saotomense of Sao Tome and Principe

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: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sãotomense
Language Family: Indo-European

60%
%
Sãotomense Speakers

Media Resources in Sãotomense:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Sãotomense:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Sãotomense bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Saotomense 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 Saotomense:
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 Saotomense of Sao Tome and Principe

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
readRomans 1:18

Pray that God will have mercy and open the eyes of those who don't know Jesus, so that they can turn to the One who is able to save them from their sins.

All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.
readPsalm 66:4

Pray that the good news of Jesus will advance here and that many will bow down and sing praises to His name.

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
readRomans 8:15

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember the God who has given them freedom from fear so that they will trust Him completely as their good Father who meets all their needs.

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.

Saotomense, Mestizo Across Countries (ROP3 - 108693) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▲Religion
Sao TomeansPG000499Sao TomeansPortugal8,500No Longer UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
SaotomensePG013160SaotomenseEquatorial Guinea13,500Engaged yet UnreachedSãotomenseProtestantism
SaotomensePG014215SaotomenseSao Tome and Principe215,000Engaged yet UnreachedSãotomenseProtestantism

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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