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The Subia of Namibia

The Subia of Namibia, numbering approximately 38,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Bantu‑speaking ethnic group of southern Africa. They are a river‑oriented people historically settled along the Zambezi, Chobe, and Linyanti river systems, with significant populations today in Namibia, Botswana, and Zambia. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Subiya is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Namibia
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-South
Primary Language(s): Subiya (sbs)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 38,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG015462
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Pray for the Subia of Namibia

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

60%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Subiya
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Kuhane Speakers

Media Resources in Subiya:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Subiya:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Subiya 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): Pioneer Unreached People Group, (LPI: 1), 0.1% or Greater but Less than 0.5% 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 Subia:
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 Subia of Namibia

Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me! O LORD, be my helper!
readPsalm 30:10

Pray that people in the depths of despair and suffering and living outside of relationship with Christ will cry out to the Lord and find help, peace, and joy in Him.

Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides through the deserts; his name is the LORD; exult before him!
readPsalm 68:4

Pray that many will come to faith in Christ and share the gospel with others so that His salvation will be known among all nations.

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
read1 Peter 3:8

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will live in harmony with one another, showing sympathy, love, compassion, and humility.

For great is the Lord, and greatly to be praised; he is to be feared above all gods.
readPsalm 96:4

Pray that God will raise up believers to declare His glory among the lost, so that they may know that He is great and greatly to be praised, that He is exalted above all gods.

Subia Across Countries (ROP3 - 109569) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▲NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
SubiaPG015262SubiaBotswana7,600Engaged yet UnreachedSubiyaAnimism
SubiaPG015462SubiaNamibia38,000Unengaged and UnreachedSubiyaEthnoreligion
SubiaPG015633SubiaZambia29,500Engaged yet UnreachedSubiyaEthnoreligion

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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