The Tswana of Botswana

The Tswana of Botswana, numbering approximately 2,115,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Sotho-Tswana people of southern Africa descended from Bantu-speaking communities that established chiefdoms across the interior grasslands of present-day South Africa and Botswana. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Tswana is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Botswana
People Cluster: Bantu, Sotho-Tswana
Primary Language(s): Tswana (tsn)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 2,115,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG015264

Pray for the Tswana of Botswana

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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

50%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tswana
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Setswana Speakers

Media Resources in Tswana:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Tswana:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Tswana bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Tswana 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 Tswana:
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 Tswana of Botswana

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.

Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.
readActs 18:8

Pray that rulers and leaders will access the gospel, respond in faith, and be baptized, uniting with Christ and His Church, and influence others to follow Him.

No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God.
readRomans 4:20

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will not waver but will grow strong in their belief, knowing that the Lord rewards those who seek Him.

And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."
readMatthew 16:17

Pray that God who is in heaven will place believers in the lives of people who need to encounter the gospel and that He will reveal to them the truth of what they hear.

Tswana Across Countries (ROP3 - 110225) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

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.

Scroll to Top