Sri Lanka

Country: Sri Lanka South Asia Peoples website

Number of People Groups

174

People Groups Unreached

79 (45.4%)

Progress Level

The Joshua Project Progress Scale is an estimate of the progress of church planting among a people group, people cluster, country or language. The Progress Scale is derived from people group values for percent Evangelical and percent Christian Adherent.

Level	Description	Criteria
1	Unreached - Few evangelicals and few who identify as Christians. Little, if any, history of Christianity.	Evangelicals <= 2% Professing Christians <= 5%
2	Minimally reached - Few evangelicals, but significant number who identify as Christians.	Evangelicals <= 2% Professing Christians > 5% and <= 50%
3	Superficially reached - Few evangelicals, but many who identify as Christians. In great need of spiritual renewal and commitment to biblical faith.	Evangelicals <= 2% Professing Christians > 50%
4	Partially reached - Evangelicals have a modest presence.	Evangelicals > 2% and <= 10%
5	Significantly reached - Evangelicals have a significant presence.	Evangelicals > 10%

Total
Population

21,290,000

Population in Unreached

3,430,000 (16.1%)

Largest Religion

Buddhism (68.9%)

% Christian Adherent *

7.6%

% Evangelical

Unknown

Evangelical Annual Growth Rate

2.3%

(Global Rate = 2.6%)

* From latest Sri Lanka census data. Current values may differ.

Map Notes

Click column headings for sorting ▲▼

Progress Scale: ●●●●●
☀
= Frontier peoples
People Group ▲	Population this Country	Global Population	Indigenous	Primary Language	Primary Religion	Progress Scale	% Christian Adherent *	% Evangelical	Est. Workers Needed **
Adi Andhra	800	307,000	●	Telugu	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Agamudaiyan	18,000	901,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	13.59 %	-1	-1 -
Agamudaiyan Nattaman	8,600	668,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	14.65 %	-1	-1 -
Ahinkuntaya	60,000	60,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	6.52 %	-1	-1 -
Ambalavasi	16,000	174,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	14.98 %	-1	-1 -
Ambattan	15,000	15,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	14.49 %	-1	-1 -
Ansari	1,000	16,505,000	●	Urdu	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Arab	5,100	496,000		Arabic, Mesopotamian Spoken	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Arain (Muslim traditions)	600	11,446,000	●	Punjabi, Western	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Arayan	900	204,000	●	Malayalam	Hinduism	2 ●	11.33 %	-1	-1 -
Badahala	113,000	113,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	7.52 %	-1	-1 -
Baloch	900	8,984,000	●	Urdu	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Bania	16,000	29,335,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Bania Agarwal	21,000	4,877,000	●	Gujarati	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Bania Chetti	6,200	734,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Bania Mahajan	1,300	188,000	●	Hindi	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Bania Mahesri	1,900	366,000	●	Marwari	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Bania Porwal	1,800	328,000	●	Marwari	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Banjara (Hindu traditions)	800	6,257,000	●	Hindi	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Batgama	375,000	375,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	1 ●	1.48 %	-1	7
Berava	366,000	366,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	6.56 %	-1	-1 -
Bharathar (Christian traditions)	2,200	40,000	●	Tamil	Christianity	3 ●	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Bharathar (Hindu traditions)	600	13,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Bintanna	6,700	6,700	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	5.05 %	-1	-1 -
Bodhivansha	15,000	15,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	6.02 %	-1	-1 -
Bohra	1,900	1,110,000	●	Gujarati	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Boya	16,000	4,047,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	14.00 %	-1	-1 -
Brahmin	107,000	62,714,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	1 ●	0.22 %	-1	2
Brahmin Indian Tamil	31,000	31,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	1 ●	0.45 %	-1	1
Burgher	51,000	51,000	●	Sinhala	Christianity	3 ●	86.96 %	-1	-1 -
Burmese	600	32,046,000		Burmese	Buddhism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Chakkiliyan (Christian traditions)	4,800	122,000	●	Tamil	Christianity	3 ●	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Chakkiliyan (Hindu traditions)	27,000	884,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	1 ●	0.12 %	-1	1
Chinese, general	700	15,378,000		Chinese, Mandarin	Unknown	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Christian	26,000	1,565,000	●	Language unknown	Christianity	3 ●	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Couratto	6,900	6,900	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	1 ●	1.72 %	-1	1
Deaf	107,000	47,601,000	●	Sri Lankan Sign Language	Buddhism	2 ●	8.38 %	-1	-1 -
Demala Gattara	8,000	8,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	7.52 %	-1	-1 -
Dhobi (Hindu traditions)	11,000	12,223,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	1 ●	1.22 %	-1	1
Divehi	1,900	3,100	●	Maldivian	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Dodda-Weddah	37,000	37,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	6.50 %	-1	-1 -
Durava	719,000	719,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	8.12 %	-1	-1 -
Gahala	11,000	11,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	1 ●	0.78 %	-1	1
Gattara	754,000	754,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	6.74 %	-1	-1 -
Gauraykwallu	19,000	19,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	1 ●	3.88 %	-1	1
Goanese	2,200	674,000	●	Konkani	Christianity	3 ●	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Govigama	553,000	553,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	6.90 %	-1	-1 -
Govigama Patti	27,000	27,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	5.28 %	-1	-1 -
Govigama Radala	27,000	27,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	5.27 %	-1	-1 -
Hajam	4,800	4,544,000	●	Tamil	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Hakki Pikki	1,200	26,000	●	Telugu	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Handi	1,700	1,700	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Hannali	331,000	331,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	6.85 %	-1	-1 -
Hanomoreyo	5,300	5,300	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Heeri	17,000	17,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	1 ●	1.59 %	-1	1
Henawalayo	19,000	19,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	1 ●	3.71 %	-1	1
Hinna	240,000	240,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	6.70 %	-1	-1 -
Hunna	90,000	90,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	6.49 %	-1	-1 -
Idayan	9,200	80,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	12.72 %	-1	-1 -
Ilavan	68,000	5,860,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.09 %	-1	1
Ilavan Christian	11,000	128,000	●	Tamil	Christianity	3 ●	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Indian Tamil	9,600	9,600	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	36.16 %	-1	-1 -
Japanese	2,300	122,852,000		Japanese	Buddhism	1 ●	2.87 %	-1	1
Jat (Hindu traditions)	1,600	19,176,000	●	Punjabi, Eastern	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Jat (Muslim traditions)	1,700	33,478,000	●	Punjabi, Western	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Javanese	8,500	18,213,000		Javanese	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Kadaiyar	1,000	15,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	7.45 %	-1	-1 -
Kaikolan	78,000	2,555,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	12.52 %	-1	-1 -
Kallan	17,000	1,291,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	9.12 %	-1	-1 -
Kapu	1,300	15,311,000	●	Telugu	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Karaiyar	193,000	193,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	15.81 %	-1	-1 -
Karava	1,067,000	1,067,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	7.40 %	-1	-1 -
Kasar (Hindu traditions)	3,400	661,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	7.95 %	-1	-1 -
Kiddea	15,000	15,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	6.10 %	-1	-1 -
Kinnara	28,000	28,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	1 ●	0.46 %	-1	1
Konta Durayi	1,900	1,900	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Koviar	209,000	209,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	17.02 %	-1	-1 -
Koviyar	1,100	1,100	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	15.77 %	-1	-1 -
Kumhar (Hindu traditions)	6,200	15,942,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	9.55 %	-1	-1 -
Kuravan (Christian traditions)	500	16,000	●	Tamil	Christianity	3 ●	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Kuravan (Hindu traditions)	4,000	429,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Kustarogiyo	15,000	15,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	5.31 %	-1	-1 -
Lohar (Hindu traditions)	900	9,737,000	●	Hindi	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Madappalli	800	800	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	12.42 %	-1	-1 -
Madari (Muslim traditions)	500	115,000	●	Urdu	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Mahishya	600	10,561,000	●	Bengali	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Malay, Javar	51,000	17,309,000		Sri Lankan Creole Malay	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Malayali	700	1,578,000	●	Malayalam	Hinduism	2 ●	11.02 %	-1	-1 -
Malayan, caste	1,500	37,000	●	Malayalam	Hinduism	2 ●	12.08 %	-1	-1 -
Mangala	700	1,918,000	●	Telugu	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Mappila	11,000	8,720,000	●	Malayalam	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Marakkalage	8,700	8,700	●	Tamil	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Maravan	99,000	3,292,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	13.51 %	-1	-1 -
Maravar	86,000	86,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	16.49 %	-1	-1 -
Mauritian	3,800	1,080,000		Morisyen	Hinduism	2 ●	45.11 %	-1	-1 -
Memon	2,000	791,000	●	Gujarati	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Moghal	1,100	3,097,000	●	Urdu	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Mukkuvan (Hindu traditions)	1,100	159,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	1 ●	2.78 %	-1	1
Mukkuvar	42,000	42,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	18.51 %	-1	-1 -
Nadar (Christian traditions)	8,900	1,277,000	●	Tamil	Christianity	3 ●	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Nadar (Hindu traditions)	25,000	3,021,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Nair	4,000	6,702,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	1 ●	0.51 %	-1	1
Nalavar	44,000	44,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	15.42 %	-1	-1 -
Namassej (Hindu traditions)	500	7,947,000	●	Bengali	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Navait	17,000	73,000	●	Tamil	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Navandanna	1,150,000	1,150,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	7.28 %	-1	-1 -
Navithan	21,000	829,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	13.76 %	-1	-1 -
Oli	30,000	30,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	5.20 %	-1	-1 -
Osta (Nasuva)	8,100	8,100	●	Tamil	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Palla	32,000	32,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	15.91 %	-1	-1 -
Pallan (Christian traditions)	6,700	466,000	●	Tamil	Christianity	3 ●	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Pallan (Hindu traditions)	46,000	2,503,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Pallar	68,000	68,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	16.04 %	-1	-1 -
Palliwilli	2,200	2,200	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	15.08 %	-1	-1 -
Pamunu	30,000	30,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	5.38 %	-1	-1 -
Panan	5,000	239,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	11.96 %	-1	-1 -
Panna	32,000	32,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	16.38 %	-1	-1 -
Pannikki	241,000	241,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	6.62 %	-1	-1 -
Paraiyan (Christian traditions)	16,000	802,000	●	Tamil	Christianity	3 ●	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Paraiyan (Hindu traditions)	102,000	2,294,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	2
Paraiyar	70,000	70,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	15.03 %	-1	-1 -
Paravan (Hindu traditions)	1,800	90,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Parsee	700	153,000		Gujarati	Other / Small	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Pashtun, Pathan	41,000	11,637,000	●	Tamil	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Pidayne Danno	8,800	8,800	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	1 ●	3.51 %	-1	1
Porowakara	59,000	59,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	5.08 %	-1	-1 -
Primanar	72,000	72,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	1 ●	3.07 %	-1	1
Pulayan	4,500	1,056,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	11.79 %	-1	-1 -
Radava	361,000	361,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	7.36 %	-1	-1 -
Radayo	1,700	1,700	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Rajaka	148,000	148,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	7.03 %	-1	-1 -
Rajput (Hindu traditions)	2,200	45,388,000	●	Hindi	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Rajput (Muslim traditions)	1,500	19,607,000	●	Punjabi, Western	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Rodiya	18,000	18,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Salagama	309,000	309,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	12.16 %	-1	-1 -
Sali, Seriyar	3,300	1,045,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	10.94 %	-1	-1 -
Samban	1,400	22,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	8.03 %	-1	-1 -
Sayyid	49,000	17,132,000	●	Tamil	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Semman	1,100	6,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	6.25 %	-1	-1 -
Shaikh	200,000	234,920,000	●	Tamil	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	4
Silpi	3,300	208,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	10.80 %	-1	-1 -
Sindhi (Muslim traditions)	1,000	221,000	●	Sindhi	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Sinhalese	183,000	183,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	6.81 %	-1	-1 -
Siviyar	500	500	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	16.00 %	-1	-1 -
Sonar (Hindu traditions)	6,200	7,802,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	1 ●	1.00 %	-1	1
Sri Lanka Chetti	6,200	6,200	●	Tamil	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Sri Lanka Moor	676,000	676,000	●	Tamil	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	14
Sri Lankan Tamil	9,300	9,300	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	37.72 %	-1	-1 -
Syrian Christian	700	3,709,000	●	Malayalam	Christianity	3 ●	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Tamil (Muslim traditions)	1,131,000	4,317,000	●	Tamil	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	23
Tattar	5,800	5,800	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	12.06 %	-1	-1 -
Teli (Hindu traditions)	4,700	19,188,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	6.93 %	-1	-1 -
Thacher	3,100	3,100	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	9.83 %	-1	-1 -
Thanakavar	2,400	2,400	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	9.53 %	-1	-1 -
Thimilar	21,000	21,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	15.42 %	-1	-1 -
Thurumber	1,000	1,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	13.98 %	-1	-1 -
Tondagattan	1,500	1,500	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Valluvan	3,000	119,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	9.86 %	-1	-1 -
Vaniyan	17,000	965,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	12.77 %	-1	-1 -
Vannan (Christian traditions)	3,700	152,000	●	Tamil	Christianity	3 ●	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Vannan (Hindu traditions)	25,000	914,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Vannar	17,000	17,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	14.49 %	-1	-1 -
Vanniyan	36,000	12,771,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	12.06 %	-1	-1 -
Vanniyar	100,000	100,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	15.46 %	-1	-1 -
Vedda	300	300	●	Sinhala	Christianity	2 ●	50.00 %	-1	-1 -
Velakkithalanayan	700	362,000	●	Malayalam	Hinduism	2 ●	12.08 %	-1	-1 -
Vellalan	30,000	2,611,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	12.47 %	-1	-1 -
Vellalar	1,161,000	1,161,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	14.80 %	-1	-1 -
Vellidura	1,200	1,200	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Vettar	3,000	3,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	8.86 %	-1	-1 -
Viswakarma	7,100	7,654,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	1 ●	2.80 %	-1	1
Wahumpura	8,128,000	8,128,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	7.01 %	-1	-1 -
Yadav (Hindu traditions)	7,300	59,573,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	1 ●	0.85 %	-1	1
Yamannu	77,000	77,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	1 ●	3.68 %	-1	2
Totals: 174	21,290,000					79 ●	7.58 %	0.00 %	126
Unclassified / Other Individuals	123,000
UN Country Population (2020)	21,413,000

Other minor groups: 29

Very small groups reported, but outside the Joshua Project Small Group Policy. Some may not be viable and/or have incorrect Progress Scale values, population, language and religion information. The groups listed below are not included in overall Joshua Project people group counts. If you have information about these groups, please contact us.

Click column headings for sorting ▲▼
People Group ▲	Progress Scale	Population	Primary Language	Primary Religion
Ahmadi	1 ●	100	Urdu	Islam
Arora (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	500	Punjabi, Eastern	Hinduism
Bagdi (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	500	Bengali	Hinduism
Bairagi (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	400	Bengali	Hinduism
Bauri	1 ●	300	Bengali	Hinduism
Darzi (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	200	Hindi	Hinduism
Gujar (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	300	Punjabi, Eastern	Hinduism
Gujar (Muslim traditions)	1 ●	200	Punjabi, Eastern	Islam
Jat (Sikh traditions)	1 ●	400	Punjabi, Eastern	Other / Small
Jogi (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	500	Bengali	Hinduism
Kayastha (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	300	Bengali	Hinduism
Khatri (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	300	Punjabi, Eastern	Hinduism
Koli (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	100	Gujarati	Hinduism
Kumhar (Hindu traditions)	2 ●	500	Tamil	Hinduism
Kunbi (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	400	Hindi	Hinduism
Kurmi (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	400	Bengali	Hinduism
Madiga (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	300	Telugu	Hinduism
Mahratta	1 ●	300	Marathi	Hinduism
Mala (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	300	Telugu	Hinduism
Malabar Catholic	3 ●	300	Malayalam	Christianity
Persian	1 ●	100	Persian, Iranian	Islam
Pinjara	1 ●	200	Urdu	Islam
Pod	1 ●	200	Bengali	Hinduism
Rajbansi (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	200	Bengali	Hinduism
Rajput (Sikh traditions)	1 ●	200	Hindi	Other / Small
Somalia	1 ●	100	Somali	Islam
Tanti (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	300	Bengali	Hinduism
Tili	1 ●	200	Bengali	Hinduism
Vaddar (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	200	Telugu	Hinduism
Totals: 29

For more information see the Joshua Project Small Group Policy

* An estimate of the number of pioneer workers needed for initial church planting among unreached people groups by country. Estimates are calculated only for unreached people groups and are based on ratio of 1 worker for every 50,000 individuals living in an unreached people group by country. Some workers may already be onsite. Many more workers are needed beyond this initial estimate.

Download Data Data Sources Definitions

Prayer Cards

Click column headings for sorting ▲▼
State ▲	Population	People Groups	Unreached Groups	% Unreached Peoples	Population in Unreached	% Population Unreached	Districts
Central	2,639,000	154	69	44.8 %	661,000	25.0 %	3
Eastern	1,601,000	131	52	39.7 %	635,000	39.7 %	3
North Central	1,297,000	89	35	39.3 %	168,000	13.0 %	2
North Western	2,442,000	116	49	42.2 %	400,000	16.4 %	2
Northern	1,117,000	99	39	39.4 %	103,000	9.2 %	5
Sabaragamuwa	1,983,000	134	58	43.3 %	280,000	14.1 %	2
Southern	2,546,000	120	44	36.7 %	102,000	4.0 %	3
Uva	1,310,000	137	57	41.6 %	218,000	16.6 %	2
Western	6,221,000	152	64	42.1 %	835,000	13.4 %	3
Country:	21,290,000	174	79	45.4 %	3,430,000	16.1 %	25

Click column headings for sorting ▲▼
Class ▲	Population	% Popl	% Hindu	% Muslim	% Christian	% Buddhist	% Sikh	% Other
Forward Caste (FC)	287,717,000	1,351.4 %	97.3 %	0.0 %	1.1 %	0.1 %	0.0 %	1.5 %
Other Backward Classes (OBC)	765,974,000	3,597.8 %	70.6 %	24.5 %	1.7 %	0.1 %	2.3 %	0.8 %
Scheduled Caste (SC)	205,728,000	966.3 %	93.5 %	0.0 %	0.5 %	3.4 %	2.6 %	0.0 %
Scheduled Tribe (ST)	114,522,000	537.9 %	81.9 %	1.5 %	9.2 %	0.8 %	0.0 %	6.7 %
	21,290,000

Why Use Caste to Define Peoples?

South Asia Communities / Castes: An Overview

A History of South Asia People Group Lists

Why Include Religion When Defining South Asia Peoples?

Level	Description	Criteria
1	Unreached - Few evangelicals and few who identify as Christians. Little, if any, history of Christianity.	Evangelicals <= 2% Professing Christians <= 5%
2	Minimally reached - Few evangelicals, but significant number who identify as Christians.	Evangelicals <= 2% Professing Christians > 5% and <= 50%
3	Superficially reached - Few evangelicals, but many who identify as Christians. In great need of spiritual renewal and commitment to biblical faith.	Evangelicals <= 2% Professing Christians > 50%
4	Partially reached - Evangelicals have a modest presence.	Evangelicals > 2% and <= 10%
5	Significantly reached - Evangelicals have a significant presence.	Evangelicals > 10%

Progress Scale

Click column headings for sorting ▲▼
Language ▲	Code	# Peoples Primary Language	# Unreached Primary Language	Scripture Status	NT Text Online	NT Audio Online	Jesus Film Online	Audio Recordings Online	Gospel Tract Online
Arabic, Mesopotamian Spoken	acm	1	1	4 New Testament	-1	1	1	1	-1
Bengali	ben	2	2	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Burmese	mya	1	1	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Chinese, Mandarin	cmn	1	1	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Gujarati	guj	4	4	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Hindi	hin	4	4	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Japanese	jpn	1	1	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Javanese	jav	1	1	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Konkani	knn	1	0	5 Complete Bible	-1	-1	1	1	1
Malayalam	mal	6	1	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Maldivian	div	1	1	3 Bible Portions	-1	-1	1	1	-1
Marwari	rwr	2	2	4 New Testament	-1	-1	1	1	-1
Morisyen	mfe	1	0	4 New Testament	1	1	1	1	-1
Punjabi, Eastern	pan	1	1	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	-1
Punjabi, Western	pnb	3	3	4 New Testament	-1	-1	1	1	1
Sindhi	snd	1	1	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	-1
Sinhala	sin	46	16	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Sri Lankan Creole Malay	sci	1	1	1 Translation Needed	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1
Sri Lankan Sign Language	sqs	1	0	0 Unspecified	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1
Tamil	tam	86	30	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	-1
Telugu	tel	4	4	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Unknown	xxx	1	0	Unspecified	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1
Urdu	urd	4	4	5 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Totals:	23	174	79		15	16	20	20	13

Click column headings for sorting ▲▼
State ▲	Population	Hindu	Muslim	Christian	Buddhist	Other	% Christian Adherent *
Central	2,639,000	581,000	270,000	97,500	1,689,000	230	0.00 %
Eastern	1,601,000	566,000	586,000	85,900	364,000	350	0.00 %
North Central	1,297,000	10,600	104,000	15,200	1,168,000	70	0.00 %
North Western	2,442,000	46,700	275,000	315,000	1,805,000	170	0.00 %
Northern	1,117,000	837,000	33,900	216,000	30,800	40	0.00 %
Sabaragamuwa	1,983,000	164,000	90,300	34,400	1,694,000	50	0.00 %
Southern	2,546,000	36,300	81,700	18,700	2,408,000	90	0.00 %
Uva	1,310,000	186,000	57,700	21,700	1,044,000	120	0.00 %
Western	6,221,000	303,000	726,000	801,000	4,389,000	4,300	0.00 %
Country:	21,290,000	2,731,000	2,225,000	1,605,000	14,592,000	5,400	7.54 %

* From latest Sri Lanka census data. Current values may differ.

Networking Possibilities

Search the Web
There are many agencies and churches looking for additional staff to help them in their mission and calling in Sri Lanka. Internet searches are probably the best way to find these organizations. The following are some example search topics you might try:

Church planting agencies in Sri Lanka
Christian ministry in Sri Lanka
Business as mission
Christian literature distribution
Evangelism agencies
Christian discipleship
Short term Christian missions

Long term Christian missions
Urban ministries
Christian media opportunities
Bible translation opportunities
Relief and development agencies
Clean water projects
Christian medical outreaches

Sri Lanka Statistics
People Groups	174
Unreached People Groups	79 (45.4%)
Population	21,290,000
Population Annual Growth Rate	0.5%
Population in Unreached	3,430,000 (16.1%)
Primary Religion	Buddhism
Percent Christian Adherent *	7.6%
Percent Evangelical	Unknown
Evangelical Annual Growth Rate	2.3%
Pioneer Workers Needed **	126
Country Progress Level	2 ●
Urbanization	19%
Continent	Asia
Region	Asia, South
10/40 Window	Yes
Country Code	CE
Official Language(s)	Sinhala \| English
Literacy Rate	95%
Estimated Illiterate Population	1,065,000
Persecution Ranking	30 (1=High to 50=Low OD)

Sri Lanka Prayer Cards
	Sri Lanka prayer cards. All Unreached

Sri Lanka Links
Operation World
Open Doors Persecution Ranking
World Factbook
God Reports (stories from the field)
Religious Freedom Report
UN Human Development Report
Ethnologue Language Listing
National Bible Society

Sri Lanka Maps
Political Map (UN)
Language Map (Ethnologue)
Perry-Castaneda Map Collection

Sri Lanka Videos
Sri Lanka Prayercast Video

Related Articles