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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Eritreans of Italy

The Eritreans of Italy, numbering approximately 25,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a culturally rich and historically significant Semitic-speaking group in northern Ethiopia and Eritrea, known for their Tigrinya language, Orthodox Christian traditions, and influential role in the region's history and culture. They mostly adhere to Tewahedo Orthodox Christianity and Tigrinya is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Horn of Africa Peoples
Country: Italy
People Cluster: Ethio-Semitic
Primary Language(s): Tigrinya (tir)
Primary Religion(s): Tewahedo Orthodox Christianity
Population: 25,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG049969
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Pray for the Eritreans of Italy

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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Tewahedo Orthodox Christianity
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

66%
%
Tewahedo Orthodox Christi… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tigrinya
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

66%
%
Tigrigna Speakers

Media Resources in Tigrinya:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

4 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Tigrinya:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1991 Bible Society of Ethiopia✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tigrinya bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Eritreans 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 Eritreans:
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 Eritreans of Italy

Abraham said, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together.
readGenesis 22:8

Pray that God will open the ears of those who are lost to understand and believe that only shed blood takes away sin and that, like Abraham, they will believe that God Himself provides the lamb for the burnt offering, who is Jesus the final, perfect sacrifice.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns."
readIsaiah 52:7

Pray that those who don't know the good news of peace and salvation through Jesus Christ will have an opportunity to receive it. Pray that it will bring hope and healing to their souls.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
readJohn 14:3

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have hope in trials because they know that Jesus will one day take them to be with Him forever.

He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.
readJohn 1:7

Pray that God will raise up witnesses to testify about Jesus so that all might believe, knowing that He is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.

Tigrayan Across Countries (ROP3 - 110050) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

9 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
TigraiPG011487TigraiDjibouti550Engaged yet UnreachedTigrinyaTewahedo Orthodox Christianity
TigrinyaPG047405TigrinyaCanada11,000Engaged yet UnreachedTigrinyaTewahedo Orthodox Christianity
EritreansPG049969EritreansItaly25,000Engaged yet UnreachedTigrinyaTewahedo Orthodox Christianity
EritreansPG050209EritreansSweden57,000Unengaged and UnreachedTigrinyaTewahedo Orthodox Christianity
TigrayansPG050360TigrayansUnited States60,500Unengaged and UnreachedTigrinyaTewahedo Orthodox Christianity
EritreansPG042441EritreansGermany61,000Unengaged and UnreachedEnglishTewahedo Orthodox Christianity
TigraiPG042854TigraiSudan65,500Unengaged and UnreachedTigrinyaTewahedo Orthodox Christianity
Tigrai/TigrinyaPG011533Tigrai/TigrinyaEritrea1,795,000Engaged yet UnreachedTigrinyaTewahedo Orthodox Christianity
Tigrai/TigrinyaPG011649Tigrai/TigrinyaEthiopia8,180,000Engaged yet UnreachedTigrinyaTewahedo Orthodox Christianity

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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