The Santiago de Estero Quichua of Argentina

The Santiago de Estero Quichua of Argentina, numbering approximately 60,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are descendants of Quechua-speaking yanaconas brought from Peru and Chile by Spanish colonists who founded Santiago del Estero, Argentina in 1553, in an area earlier home to the Tonocote and Sanavirona peoples. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Santiago del Estero Quichua is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Quichua, Santiago de Estero

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Argentina
People Cluster: Quechua
Primary Language(s): Santiago del Estero Quichua (qus)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 60,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG017364
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Pray for the Santiago de Estero Quichua of Argentina

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

85%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Santiago del Estero Quichua
Language Family: Quechuan

50%
%
Quichua, Santiago del Estero Speakers

Media Resources in Santiago del Estero Quichua:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Santiago del Estero Quichua:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Santiago del Estero Quichua bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Santiago de Estero Quichua 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 Santiago de Estero Quichua:
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 Santiago de Estero Quichua of Argentina

All we like sheep have gone astray; we have turned—every one—to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.
readIsaiah 53:6

Pray that those who have wandered far from God will be drawn back to Him, recognizing their need for a Savior and finding forgiveness and new life in Christ.

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.

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.
readIsaiah 49:13

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and suffer for their faith, they will sing for joy and be glad in their hearts because the Lord has compassion on them.

"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
readJohn 7:38

Ask God to raise up believers and sustain them as they cross cultures to share hope with those who need it. Pray that many might come to know Christ and that streams of living water will flow from their hearts so they will never thirst again.

Quichua, Santiago del Estero Across Countries (ROP3 - 108678) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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