Northern Sotho of South Africa (PGID: PG033365)

The Northern Sotho of South Africa

The Northern Sotho of South Africa, numbering approximately 4,305,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Sotho-Tswana ethnolinguistic people indigenous to northeastern South Africa whose identity is rooted in Northern Sotho (Sepedi and related dialects), traditional chiefdoms, and a cultural heritage centered in Limpopo Province. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Pedi is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Northern Sotho

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: South Africa
People Cluster: Bantu, Sotho-Tswana
Primary Language(s): Pedi (nso)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 4,305,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG033365
View on Joshua Project

Print Profile

Submit Updates

Pray for the Northern Sotho of South Africa

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!

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

82%

Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Pedi
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%

Sotho, Northern Speakers

Media Resources in Pedi:

Films:

Title	Link
JESUS	View Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Pedi:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Pedi bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Northern 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 Northern 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 Northern Sotho of South Africa

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
Acts 4:12

Pray that those walking in darkness among them will come to know the name by which they must be saved, and call upon Him in faith.

For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.
Malachi 1:11

Pray that they will worship God in spirit and truth, offering Him the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving that He desires.

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.
Luke 18:17

Pray that as people trust in Christ, they will have simple, childlike confidence that He will provide for their needs.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
Psalm 139:14

Praise God for His creativity and power, and pray that He will raise up men and women from among them who are in awe of all He has done and want to go share the hope of Christ with others.

Pedi Across Countries (ROP3 - 107413) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

Engaged yet Unreached UUPG No Longer Unreached

CountryReligion

2 people groups

Photo	People Group ID	Name	Country	Population ▼	Strategic Progress Index	Language	Religion
	PG033365	Northern Sotho	South Africa	4,305,000	No Longer Unreached	Pedi	Protestantism
	PG015670	Pedi	Zimbabwe	183,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Pedi	Protestantism

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.

People Groups of the World

Countries of the World

Languages of the World

Religions of the World

Advanced Dashboard

What are People Groups?

Using Peoplegroups.org

People Group Research

Definitions and FAQs

About Us

Maps

Research Data

Resource Links