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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Sotho of Eswatini

The Sotho of Eswatini, numbering approximately 6,100 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Sotho-Tswana ethnic group indigenous to Lesotho and South Africa. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Southern Sotho is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Eswatini
People Cluster: Bantu, Sotho-Tswana
Primary Language(s): Southern Sotho (sot)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 6,100
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG015558
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Pray for the Sotho of Eswatini

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: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

90%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Southern Sotho
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Sotho, Southern Speakers

Media Resources in Southern Sotho:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Southern Sotho:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Southern Sotho bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The 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 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 Sotho of Eswatini

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
readPsalm 67:3

Pray that those who are lost and unaware of God's blessings will come to know Him as the one true God, put their trust in Him, and join in praising Him among the nations.

Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.
readMatthew 13:8-9

Pray that they will have open hearts and minds to the Word of God, and that it will take root in their lives and bear fruit for His glory.

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
readColossians 4:6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, their speech will always be gracious and ready to answer for the hope which is within them.

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe."
readJohn 6:35-36

Praise God for the things such as bread that He has provided as natural conversation bridges to the gospel. Pray that believers will use any bridges He provides to share the gospel with those who do not yet know the good news.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▲NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Southern SothoPG015283Southern SothoLesotho1,945,000Engaged yet UnreachedSouthern SothoRoman Catholicism
Southern SothoPG015533Southern SothoSouth Africa5,435,000No Longer UnreachedSouthern SothoProtestantism
SothoPG015558SothoEswatini6,100No Longer UnreachedSouthern SothoProtestantism
BasothoPG047274BasothoUnited States300No Longer UnreachedSouthern SothoProtestantism

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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