The Nuer of South Sudan

The Nuer of South Sudan, numbering approximately 1,745,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic subgroup of the Nuer, a Nilotic ethnic group concentrated in the Greater Upper Nile region of South Sudan and can also be known as Naath. They are an Indigenous people, in the Nilotic people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion - African Traditional Religion. They primarily speak Nuer.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Nuer

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: South Sudan
People Cluster: Nilotic
Primary Language(s): Nuer (nus)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion - African Traditional Religion
Population: 1,745,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Concentrated CP Activity
People Group ID: PG046788

Pray for the Nuer of South Sudan

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: Ethnoreligion - African Traditional Religion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%
Ethnoreligion - African T… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Nuer
Language Family: Nilotic

%
Nuer Speakers

Media Resources in Nuer:

Films:

Bible Resources in Nuer:

Next steps for the Nuer

The Nuer are Unengaged and Unreached, 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.

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

Next steps for the Nuer

The Nuer 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.

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

Next steps for the Nuer

The Nuer 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.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Nuer of South Sudan

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.

The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them.
readPsalm 104:8

Pray that they will see the hand of God in the beauty and order of the natural world, and that they will worship Him as the Creator and Sustainer of all things.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures.
readPsalm 23:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember that the Lord is their shepherd, providing for their every need.

Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.”
readActs 17:32

Ask God to give those He sends to cross cultures wisdom and discernment as they engage in spiritual conversations with those who are curious about the gospel.

Nuer, Naath reported in the following countries (ROP3):

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 Definitions page.

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