Sri Lanka

Country: Sri Lanka South Asia Peoples website

Number of People Groups

166

People Groups Unreached

70 (42.2%)

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

20,832,000

Population in Unreached

2,976,000 (14.3%)

Largest Religion

Buddhism (69.3%)

% Professing Christian **

7.6%

% Evangelical

Unknown

Evangelical Annual Growth Rate

2.3%

(Global Rate = 2.6%)

Map Notes

Click column headings for sorting ▲▼

Progress Scale: ●●●●●
People Group ▲	Population this Country	Global Population	Indigenous	Primary Language	Progress Scale	Primary Religion	% Christian Adherent **	% Evangelical	Est. Workers Needed *
Adi Andhra	800	1,248,000	●	Telugu	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Agamudaiyan	18,000	875,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	13.59 %	-1	-1 -
Agamudaiyan Nattaman	8,800	663,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	14.65 %	-1	-1 -
Ahinkuntaya	60,000	60,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	6.52 %	-1	-1 -
Ambalavasi	16,000	167,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	14.98 %	-1	-1 -
Ambattan	15,000	15,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	14.49 %	-1	-1 -
Ansari	1,100	16,392,000	●	Urdu	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Arab	5,300	404,000		Arabic, Mesopotamian Spoken	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Arain (Muslim traditions)	600	11,022,000	●	Punjabi, Western	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Arayan	1,000	199,000	●	Malayalam	2 ●	Hinduism	11.33 %	-1	-1 -
Badahala	112,000	112,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	7.52 %	-1	-1 -
Baloch	1,000	7,953,000	●	Urdu	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Bania	16,000	29,459,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Bania Agarwal	20,000	4,832,000	●	Gujarati	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Bania Chetti	6,500	807,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Bania Mahajan	1,300	185,000	●	Hindi	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Bania Mahesri	1,900	363,000	●	Marwari	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Bania Porwal	1,800	328,000	●	Marwari	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Banjara (Hindu traditions)	800	6,001,000	●	Hindi	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Batgama	388,000	388,000	●	Sinhala	1 ●	Buddhism	1.48 %	-1	8
Berava	363,000	363,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	6.56 %	-1	-1 -
Bharathar	1,800	75,000	●	Malayalam	3 ●	Christianity	82.23 %	-1	-1 -
Bintanna	6,600	6,600	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	5.05 %	-1	-1 -
Bodhivansha	14,000	14,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	6.02 %	-1	-1 -
Bohra	2,000	1,106,000	●	Gujarati	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Boya	17,000	4,017,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	14.00 %	-1	-1 -
Brahmin	100,000	63,268,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Hinduism	0.23 %	-1	2
Brahmin Indian Tamil	32,000	32,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Hinduism	0.45 %	-1	1
Burgher	46,000	46,000	●	Sinhala	3 ●	Christianity	86.85 %	-1	-1 -
Burmese	600	31,812,000		Burmese	1 ●	Buddhism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Chakkiliyan	32,000	1,328,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	14.97 %	-1	-1 -
Chinese, general	700	12,934,000		Language unknown	1 ●	Buddhism	3.81 %	-1	1
Christian	27,000	1,144,000	●	Language unknown	3 ●	Christianity	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Couratto	7,100	7,100	●	Sinhala	1 ●	Buddhism	1.72 %	-1	1
Deaf	105,000	46,464,000	●	Sri Lankan Sign Language	2 ●	Buddhism	8.38 %	-1	-1 -
Demala Gattara	7,400	7,400	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	7.52 %	-1	-1 -
Dhobi (Hindu traditions)	11,000	12,581,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Hinduism	1.22 %	-1	1
Divehi	2,000	3,200	●	Maldivian	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Dodda-Weddah	39,000	39,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	6.50 %	-1	-1 -
Durava	612,000	612,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	8.12 %	-1	-1 -
Gahala	11,000	11,000	●	Sinhala	1 ●	Buddhism	0.78 %	-1	1
Gattara	747,000	747,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	6.74 %	-1	-1 -
Gauraykwallu	19,000	19,000	●	Sinhala	1 ●	Buddhism	3.88 %	-1	1
Goanese	2,300	650,000	●	Konkani	3 ●	Christianity	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Govigama	549,000	549,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	6.90 %	-1	-1 -
Govigama Patti	27,000	27,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	5.28 %	-1	-1 -
Govigama Radala	27,000	27,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	5.27 %	-1	-1 -
Hajam	4,900	4,504,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Hakki Pikki	1,300	26,000	●	Telugu	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Handi	1,800	1,800	●	Sinhala	1 ●	Buddhism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Hannali	328,000	328,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	6.85 %	-1	-1 -
Hanomoreyo	5,500	5,500	●	Sinhala	1 ●	Buddhism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Heeri	17,000	17,000	●	Sinhala	1 ●	Buddhism	1.59 %	-1	1
Henawalayo	19,000	19,000	●	Sinhala	1 ●	Buddhism	3.71 %	-1	1
Hinna	238,000	238,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	6.70 %	-1	-1 -
Hunna	89,000	89,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	6.49 %	-1	-1 -
Idayan	9,400	79,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	12.72 %	-1	-1 -
Ilavan	80,000	5,939,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	13.34 %	-1	-1 -
Indian Tamil	9,800	9,800	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	36.16 %	-1	-1 -
Japanese	2,300	124,687,000		Japanese	1 ●	Buddhism	2.87 %	-1	1
Jat (Hindu traditions)	1,600	19,213,000	●	Punjabi, Eastern	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Jat (Muslim traditions)	1,800	33,208,000	●	Punjabi, Western	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Javanese	8,600	17,777,000		Javanese	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Kadaiyar	1,000	18,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	7.45 %	-1	-1 -
Kaikolan	80,000	2,497,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	12.52 %	-1	-1 -
Kallan	18,000	1,280,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	9.12 %	-1	-1 -
Kapu	1,400	15,154,000	●	Telugu	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Karaiyar	189,000	189,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	15.81 %	-1	-1 -
Karava	1,063,000	1,063,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	7.40 %	-1	-1 -
Kasar (Hindu traditions)	3,500	726,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	7.95 %	-1	-1 -
Kiddea	15,000	15,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	6.10 %	-1	-1 -
Kinnara	29,000	29,000	●	Sinhala	1 ●	Buddhism	0.46 %	-1	1
Konta Durayi	2,000	2,000	●	Sinhala	1 ●	Buddhism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Koviar	201,000	201,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	17.02 %	-1	-1 -
Koviyar	1,000	1,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	15.77 %	-1	-1 -
Kumhar (Hindu traditions)	6,400	15,721,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	9.55 %	-1	-1 -
Kuravan	4,600	490,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	10.80 %	-1	-1 -
Kustarogiyo	15,000	15,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	5.31 %	-1	-1 -
Lohar (Hindu traditions)	900	9,640,000	●	Hindi	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Madappalli	700	700	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	12.42 %	-1	-1 -
Madari	500	111,000	●	Urdu	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Mahishya	600	10,330,000	●	Bengali	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Malay, Javar	44,000	17,717,000		Sri Lankan Creole Malay	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Malayali	800	1,389,000	●	Malayalam	2 ●	Hinduism	11.02 %	-1	-1 -
Malayan, tribal	1,600	42,000	●	Malayalam	2 ●	Hinduism	12.08 %	-1	-1 -
Mangala	700	1,865,000	●	Telugu	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Mappila	11,000	9,172,000	●	Malayalam	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Marakkalage	8,900	8,900	●	Tamil	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Maravan	101,000	3,231,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	13.56 %	-1	-1 -
Maravar	84,000	84,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	16.49 %	-1	-1 -
Mauritian	3,800	1,074,000		Morisyen	2 ●	Hinduism	45.11 %	-1	-1 -
Memon	2,100	699,000	●	Gujarati	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Moghal	1,200	2,987,000	●	Urdu	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Mukkuvan (Hindu traditions)	1,100	154,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Hinduism	2.78 %	-1	1
Mukkuvar	41,000	41,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	18.51 %	-1	-1 -
Nadar	35,000	4,281,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	25.93 %	-1	-1 -
Nair	4,100	6,667,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Hinduism	0.51 %	-1	1
Nalavar	43,000	43,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	15.42 %	-1	-1 -
Namassej	600	8,412,000	●	Bengali	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Navait	17,000	73,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Navandanna	1,141,000	1,141,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	7.28 %	-1	-1 -
Navithan	22,000	808,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	13.76 %	-1	-1 -
Oli	29,000	29,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	5.20 %	-1	-1 -
Osta [Nasuva]	8,300	8,300	●	Tamil	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Palla	30,000	30,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	15.91 %	-1	-1 -
Pallan	53,000	3,369,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	12.87 %	-1	-1 -
Pallar	68,000	68,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	16.04 %	-1	-1 -
Palliwilli	2,200	2,200	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	15.08 %	-1	-1 -
Pamunu	30,000	30,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	5.38 %	-1	-1 -
Panar	5,100	247,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	11.96 %	-1	-1 -
Panna	30,000	30,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	16.38 %	-1	-1 -
Pannikki	239,000	239,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	6.62 %	-1	-1 -
Paraiyan	119,000	3,211,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	13.46 %	-1	-1 -
Paraiyar	69,000	69,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	15.03 %	-1	-1 -
Paravan	2,000	130,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	8.42 %	-1	-1 -
Parsee	700	162,000		Gujarati	1 ●	Other / Small	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Pashtun, Pathan	42,000	11,660,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Pidayne Danno	8,700	8,700	●	Sinhala	1 ●	Buddhism	3.51 %	-1	1
Porowakara	48,000	48,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	5.08 %	-1	-1 -
Primanar	70,000	70,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Hinduism	3.07 %	-1	1
Pulayan	4,700	1,422,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	11.79 %	-1	-1 -
Radava	357,000	357,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	7.36 %	-1	-1 -
Radayo	1,800	1,800	●	Sinhala	1 ●	Buddhism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Rajaka	147,000	147,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	7.03 %	-1	-1 -
Rajput (Hindu traditions)	2,200	45,558,000	●	Hindi	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Rajput (Muslim traditions)	1,500	19,980,000	●	Punjabi, Western	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Rodiya	18,000	18,000	●	Sinhala	1 ●	Buddhism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Salagama	294,000	294,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	12.16 %	-1	-1 -
Sali, Seriyar	3,400	1,304,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	10.94 %	-1	-1 -
Samban	1,500	53,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	8.03 %	-1	-1 -
Sayyid	50,000	15,638,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Semman, Sempadawar	1,200	6,100	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	6.25 %	-1	-1 -
Shaikh	204,000	236,190,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	4
Silpi	3,400	203,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	10.80 %	-1	-1 -
Sindhi (Muslim traditions)	1,000	309,000	●	Sindhi	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Sinhalese	165,000	165,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	6.81 %	-1	-1 -
Siviyar	500	500	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	16.00 %	-1	-1 -
Sonar (Hindu traditions)	6,400	7,775,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Hinduism	1.00 %	-1	1
Sri Lanka Chetti	6,500	6,500	●	Tamil	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Sri Lanka Moor	489,000	489,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	10
Sri Lankan Tamil	8,800	8,800	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	37.72 %	-1	-1 -
Syrian Christian	700	3,712,000	●	Malayalam	3 ●	Christianity	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Tamil (Muslim traditions)	1,151,000	4,311,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	23
Tattar	5,400	5,400	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	12.06 %	-1	-1 -
Teli (Hindu traditions)	4,800	19,074,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	6.93 %	-1	-1 -
Thacher	3,100	3,100	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	9.83 %	-1	-1 -
Thanakavar	2,500	2,500	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	9.53 %	-1	-1 -
Thimilar	20,000	20,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	15.42 %	-1	-1 -
Thurumber	700	700	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	13.98 %	-1	-1 -
Tondagattan	1,500	1,500	●	Sinhala	1 ●	Buddhism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Valluvan	3,100	134,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	9.86 %	-1	-1 -
Vaniyan	17,000	948,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	12.77 %	-1	-1 -
Vannan	30,000	1,033,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	12.58 %	-1	-1 -
Vannar	16,000	16,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	14.49 %	-1	-1 -
Vanniyan	37,000	12,587,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	12.06 %	-1	-1 -
Vanniyar	97,000	97,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	15.46 %	-1	-1 -
Vedda	300	300	●	Veddah	2 ●	Christianity	50.00 %	-1	-1 -
Velakkithalanayan	700	352,000	●	Malayalam	2 ●	Hinduism	12.08 %	-1	-1 -
Vellalan	31,000	2,564,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	12.47 %	-1	-1 -
Vellalar	1,144,000	1,144,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	14.80 %	-1	-1 -
Vellidura	1,300	1,300	●	Sinhala	1 ●	Buddhism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Vettar	3,100	3,100	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	8.86 %	-1	-1 -
Viswakarma	7,300	7,679,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Hinduism	2.80 %	-1	1
Wahumpura	8,048,000	8,048,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	7.01 %	-1	-1 -
Yadav (Hindu traditions)	7,500	59,972,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Hinduism	0.85 %	-1	1
Yamannu	80,000	80,000	●	Sinhala	1 ●	Buddhism	3.68 %	-1	2
Totals: 166	20,832,000				70 ●		7.60 %	0.00 %	113
Unclassified / Other Individuals	118,000
UN Country Population (2018)	20,950,000

Other minor groups: 51

Groups reported, but outside the Small People Group Policy conditions. Some may not be viable and/or have incorrect Progress Scale values. The groups listed below are not included in overall Joshua Project people group counts. For possible further 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
Ahmadi	1 ●	-1 Unknown	Language Unknown	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
Dhobi, Hindu	0 ●	-1 Unknown	Language Unknown	Hinduism
Goan Catholic	2 ●	400	Konkani, Goan	Christianity
Gujar (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	300	Punjabi, Eastern	Hinduism
Gujar (Muslim traditions)	1 ●	200	Punjabi, Eastern	Islam
Japanese	1 ●	200	Japanese	Other / Small
Jat (Sikh traditions)	1 ●	400	Punjabi, Eastern	Other / Small
Jat, Hindu	1 ●	400	Panjabi, Eastern	Hinduism
Javanese	1 ●	100	Language Unknown	Islam
Jew	1 ●	-1 Unknown	Malayalam	Ethnic Religions
Jogi (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	500	Bengali	Hinduism
Kayastha (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	300	Bengali	Hinduism
Khatri (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	300	Punjabi, Eastern	Hinduism
Khoja	1 ●	-1 Unknown	Gujarati	Islam
Koli (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	100	Gujarati	Hinduism
Kumhar (Hindu traditions)	2 ●	500	Tamil	Hinduism
Kunbi (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	400	Hindi	Hinduism
Kunbi, Hindu	1 ●	200	Marathi	Hinduism
Kurmi (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	400	Bengali	Hinduism
Madagascar migrant	0 ●	-1 Unknown	Malagasy, Plateau	Unknown
Madari	1 ●	400	Sindhi	Islam
Madiga (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	300	Telugu	Hinduism
Mahratta	1 ●	400	Marathi	Hinduism
Mahratta	1 ●	300	Marathi	Hinduism
Mala (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	300	Telugu	Hinduism
Malabar Catholic	3 ●	300	Malayalam	Christianity
Mappila	1 ●	500	Malayalam	Islam
Moghal	1 ●	-1 Unknown	Urdu	Islam
Persian	1 ●	100	Persian, Iranian	Islam
Persian	1 ●	-1 Unknown	Farsi, Eastern (Dari)	Islam
Pinjara	1 ●	200	Urdu	Islam
Pod	1 ●	200	Bengali	Hinduism
Rajbansi (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	200	Bengali	Hinduism
Rajput	1 ●	200	Telugu	Hinduism
Rajput (Sikh traditions)	1 ●	200	Hindi	Other / Small
Sayyid	1 ●	-1 Unknown	Urdu	Islam
Shaikh	1 ●	100	Tamil	Islam
Sindh Muslim	1 ●	400	Sindhi	Islam
Somali	1 ●	-1 Unknown	Somali	Islam
Somalia	1 ●	100	Somali	Islam
Syrian Christian	2 ●	100	Malayalam	Christianity
Tai Shan, Buddhist	1 ●	-1 Unknown	Language Unknown	Buddhism
Tanti (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	300	Bengali	Hinduism
Tili	1 ●	200	Bengali	Hinduism
Vaddar (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	200	Telugu	Hinduism
Totals: 51

For more information see the Joshua Project Small People 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.

** Religion values from Sri Lanka census data. Current values may differ.

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	2,734,000	146	60	41.1 %	505,000	18.5 %	3
Eastern	1,659,000	125	46	36.8 %	652,000	39.3 %	3
North Central	1,345,000	85	29	34.1 %	174,000	12.9 %	2
North Western	2,530,000	109	42	38.5 %	412,000	16.3 %	2
Northern	1,034,000	93	33	35.5 %	95,000	9.2 %	4
Sabaragamuwa	2,055,000	126	49	38.9 %	259,000	12.6 %	2
Southern	1,770,000	109	37	33.9 %	68,000	3.8 %	2
Uva	1,352,000	130	49	37.7 %	161,000	11.9 %	2
Western	6,221,000	145	56	38.6 %	623,000	10.0 %	3
Country:	20,832,000	166	70	42.2 %	2,976,000	14.3 %	23

Click column headings for sorting ▲▼
Class ▲	Population	% Popl	% Hindu	% Muslim	% Christian	% Buddhist	% Sikh	% Other
Forward Caste (FC)	286,406,000	1,374.8 %	96.9 %	0.0 %	1.1 %	0.0 %	0.0 %	2.0 %
Other Backward Caste (OBC)	738,609,000	3,545.6 %	71.2 %	24.0 %	1.4 %	0.3 %	2.6 %	0.6 %
Scheduled Caste (SC)	209,247,000	1,004.4 %	93.7 %	0.0 %	1.9 %	2.9 %	1.4 %	0.2 %
Scheduled Tribe (ST)	113,543,000	545.0 %	81.8 %	1.5 %	9.3 %	0.8 %	0.0 %	6.7 %
	20,832,000

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?

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	3 New Testament	-1	1	1	1	-1
Bengali	ben	2	2	4 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Burmese	mya	1	1	4 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Gujarati	guj	4	4	4 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Hindi	hin	4	4	4 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Japanese	jpn	1	1	4 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Javanese	jav	1	1	4 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Konkani	knn	1	0	4 Complete Bible	-1	-1	1	1	1
Malayalam	mal	7	1	4 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Maldivian	div	1	1	2 Bible Portions	-1	-1	1	1	-1
Marwari	rwr	2	2	3 New Testament	-1	-1	1	1	-1
Morisyen	mfe	1	0	3 New Testament	1	1	1	1	-1
Punjabi, Eastern	pan	1	1	4 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	-1
Punjabi, Western	pnb	3	3	4 Complete Bible	-1	-1	1	1	1
Sindhi	snd	1	1	4 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	-1
Sinhala	sin	45	16	4 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Sri Lankan Creole Malay	sci	1	1	0 Trans Need ? Need ?	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1
Sri Lankan Sign Language	sqs	1	0	0 Trans Need ? Need ?	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1
Tamil	tam	77	21	4 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	-1
Telugu	tel	4	4	4 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Unknown	xxx	2	1	Trans Need ? Need ?	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1
Urdu	urd	4	4	4 Complete Bible	1	1	1	1	1
Veddah	ved	1	0	0 Trans Need ? Need ?	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1
Totals:	23	166	70		14	15	19	19	12

Click column headings for sorting ▲▼
State ▲	Population	Hindu	Muslim	Christian	Buddhist	Other	% Christian Adherent
Central	2,734,000	602,000	279,000	101,000	1,749,000	230	3.70 %
Eastern	1,659,000	586,000	607,000	88,400	377,000	370	5.33 %
North Central	1,345,000	11,100	107,000	15,800	1,211,000	70	1.17 %
North Western	2,530,000	48,600	285,000	327,000	1,870,000	190	12.91 %
Northern	1,034,000	765,000	34,500	204,000	30,600	40	19.70 %
Sabaragamuwa	2,055,000	170,000	93,600	35,600	1,756,000	50	1.73 %
Southern	1,770,000	18,500	57,500	13,400	1,681,000	70	0.76 %
Uva	1,352,000	188,000	59,700	22,600	1,082,000	140	1.67 %
Western	6,221,000	313,000	534,000	822,000	4,549,000	2,330	13.21 %
Country:	20,832,000	2,702,000	2,057,000	1,630,000	14,306,000	3,500	7.82 %

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	166
Unreached People Groups	70 (42.2%)
Population	20,832,000
Population Annual Growth Rate	0.5%
Population in Unreached	2,976,000 (14.3%)
Pioneer Workers Needed *	113
Primary Religion	Buddhism
Percent Christian Adherent	7.6%
Percent Evangelical	Unknown
Evangelical Annual Growth Rate	2.3%
Country Progress Level	2 ●
Urbanization	18%
Continent	Asia
Region	South Asia
10/40 Window	Yes
Country Code	CE
Official Language(s)	Sinhala \| English
Literacy Rate	95%
Estimated Illiterate Population	1,042,000
Persecution Ranking	44 (1=High to 50=Low OD)

Sri Lanka Prayer Cards
	Sri Lanka prayer cards. All Unreached

Sri Lanka Links
Operation World
Window International Country Profile
World Factbook
Ethnologue Language Listing
National Bible Society
God Reports (stories from the field)
Religious Freedom Report

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

Sri Lanka Videos
Sri Lanka Prayercast Video

* An estimate of the number of pioneer workers needed for initial church planting among unreached people groups. 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. Some workers may already be onsite. The country estimate is a summation of the unreached people group estimates. Many more workers are needed beyond this initial estimate.

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