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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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The Acholi of South Sudan

The Acholi of South Sudan, numbering approximately 70,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a cross-border Luo people centered in Magwi County, Eastern Equatoria, sharing Acholi identity and language with related communities in northern Uganda. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Acoli is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: South Sudan
People Cluster: Nilotic
Primary Language(s): Acoli (ach)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 70,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG014887
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Pray for the Acholi of South Sudan

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: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

—
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Acoli
Language Family: Nilotic

100%
%
Acholi Speakers

Media Resources in Acoli:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Acoli:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1985 Bible Society of Uganda✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Acoli bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Acholi 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 Acholi:
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 Acholi of South Sudan

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.

For I will proclaim the name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God!
readDeuteronomy 32:3

Pray that believers will proclaim the Lord’s name and declare the greatness of our God so that others might believe in Him.

Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
readPsalm 111:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will praise the Lord with their whole heart in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.

Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, who stand by night in the house of the LORD!
readPsalm 134:1

Pray that God will raise up believers among them who are in awe of Him and that, in service to Him, they will share the gospel with others so that they too may bless the Lord!

Acholi Across Countries (ROP3 - 100042) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
AcholiPG015068AcholiUganda2,665,000Unengaged and UnreachedAcoliRoman Catholicism
AcholiPG014887AcholiSouth Sudan70,500No Longer UnreachedAcoliEthnoreligion
AcholiPG050331AcholiUnited States500No Longer UnreachedAcoliAnimism

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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