The Saudi Arabs of Saudi Arabia

The Saudi Arabs of Saudi Arabia, numbering approximately 13,010,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Arabic-speaking people of the Arabian Peninsula whose cultural identity is rooted in tribal history, Islamic traditions, and strong kinship networks. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Najdi Arabic is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Saudi Arab

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Saudi Arabia
People Cluster: Arab, Arabian
Primary Language(s): Najdi Arabic (ars)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 13,010,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG046419
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Saudi Arabs of Saudi Arabia

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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

90%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Najdi Arabic
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Arabic, Najdi Speakers

Media Resources in Najdi Arabic:

Films:
TitleLink
The SaviorView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Najdi Arabic:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Najdi Arabic bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Saudi Arabs 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 Saudi Arabs:
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 Saudi Arabs of Saudi Arabia

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,' and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.
readPsalm 32:5

Pray those who are lost will realize their sin, confess their iniquity, and grow in their understanding of salvation through faith in Christ alone.

And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
readActs 6:7

Pray that the Word of God will be increasingly available to these people in ways they will resonate with so that all may have a chance to respond to the good news of Jesus Christ.

Jesus said, ‘Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.
readMark 10:29-30

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will know that when they make sacrifices to follow Jesus, He is there with them and will bless them abundantly in this life and in the life to come.

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations.
readPsalm 57:9

Pray that God will raise up believers among them who will boldly go and share the gospel with people nearby and with those far away.

Arab, Najdi Across Countries (ROP3 - 101196) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

5 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Saudi ArabsSaudi ArabsSaudi Arabia13,010,000Engaged yet UnreachedNajdi ArabicSunni Islam
Saudi ArabsSaudi ArabsKuwait382,000Unengaged and UnreachedNajdi ArabicSunni Islam
Najdi ArabsNajdi ArabsUnited States79,500Unengaged and UnreachedNajdi ArabicSunni Islam
Saudi ArabsSaudi ArabsOman60,500Unengaged and UnreachedStandard ArabicSunni Islam
Saudi ArabsSaudi ArabsCanada20,000Engaged yet UnreachedNajdi ArabicSunni Islam

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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