The Djiboutian Arabs of Djibouti

The Djiboutian Arabs of Djibouti, numbering approximately 80,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Djibouti. Djiboutian Arabs are largely descendants of Yemeni migrants, especially from the Tihama and Taiz regions, who arrived during the French colonial period to work in construction, trade, and agriculture. They are an Diaspora people in the Arab, Yemeni people cluster of the Arab Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Arabic, Ta’izzi-Adeni and their primary religion is Shia Islam.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Arab, Djiboutian

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Arab Peoples
Country: Djibouti
People Cluster: Arab, Yemeni
Primary Language(s): Arabic, Ta’izzi-Adeni (acq)
Primary Religion(s): Shia Islam
Population: 80,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011483
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Djiboutian Arabs of Djibouti

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: Shia Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

97%
%
Shia Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Arabic, Ta’izzi-Adeni
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Arabic, Ta’izzi-Adeni Speakers

Bible Resources in Arabic, Ta’izzi-Adeni:

Or check out the Arabic, Ta’izzi-Adeni bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), 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.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Djiboutian Arabs:
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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Djiboutian 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 Djiboutian 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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Djiboutian Arabs 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 Djiboutian Arabs:
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 Djiboutian Arabs of Djibouti

He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him
readLuke 10:34

Pray that the lost among them will experience the kind of compassion Jesus taught His followers to show others, and that they will trust in Him because He is the one who brings healing to the broken and lost.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
readHebrews 4:12

Pray for God's Word to be accessible to everyone in this people group in a way they will resonate with so that many will engage with it, receive it, and share it with others.

You are a hiding place for me; you preserve me from trouble; you surround me with shouts of deliverance.
readPsalm 32:7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember that God is their hiding place and that He will preserve them in the midst of trials.

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.
readRomans 9:16

Ask God to raise up people who will trust in His sovereignty as they share the gospel, knowing that it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.

Arab, Yemeni Across Countries (ROP3 - 109729) reported in the following countries:

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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