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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Southern Sotho of Lesotho

The Southern Sotho of Lesotho, numbering approximately 1,940,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Sotho-Tswana ethnic group indigenous to Lesotho and South Africa. They are an Indigenous people in the Bantu, Sotho-Tswana people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Sotho, Southern and their primary religion is Roman Catholicism.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Lesotho
People Cluster: Bantu, Sotho-Tswana
Primary Language(s): Sotho, Southern (sot)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 1,940,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG015283
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Pray for the Southern Sotho of Lesotho

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: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

55%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sotho, Southern
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Sotho, Southern Speakers

Media Resources in Sotho, Southern:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Sotho, Southern:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Sotho, Southern 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: 1), 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): Expanding Unreached People Group, (LPI: 2), 0.5% to 2% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active 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 Southern Sotho:
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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Southern Sotho 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 Southern Sotho:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Southern Sotho 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 Southern Sotho:
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 Southern Sotho of Lesotho

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
readMatthew 5:6

Pray for those who are lost to desire righteousness and to be filled with the peace and purpose that only comes from following Jesus.

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 those who have yet to believe will soon recognize the majesty of God's name and raise their voices in praise to the Lord Almighty.

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.
readMatthew 18:20

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be encouraged as they remember that Jesus is with them when they gather in His name.

The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world. He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him.
readJohn 1:9-10

Pray for those God might send to share the gospel here. Ask that they will grow closer to Jesus and be compelled to share His good news with people who don't know it.

Sotho Across Countries (ROP3 - 109431) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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