Sri Lanka

Country: Sri Lanka South Asia Peoples website

Number of People Groups

165

People Groups Unreached

76 (46.1%)

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

20,766,000

Population in Unreached

3,156,000 (15.2%)

Largest Religion

Buddhism (69.4%)

% Professing Christian **

7.5%

% 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	1,254,000	●	Telugu	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Agamudaiyan	18,000	881,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Agamudaiyan Nattaman	8,800	669,000	●	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	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Ambattan	15,000	15,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	14.49 %	-1	-1 -
Ansari	1,100	16,449,000	●	Urdu	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Arab	5,300	407,000		Arabic, Mesopotamian Spoken	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Arain (Muslim traditions)	600	11,065,000	●	Punjabi, Western	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Arayan	1,000	200,000	●	Malayalam	2 ●	Hinduism	11.33 %	-1	-1 -
Badahala	112,000	112,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	7.52 %	-1	-1 -
Baloch	1,000	7,986,000	●	Urdu	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Bania	16,000	29,633,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Bania Agarwal	20,000	4,865,000	●	Gujarati	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Bania Chetti	6,500	812,000	●	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	365,000	●	Marwari	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Bania Porwal	1,800	330,000	●	Marwari	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Banjara (Hindu traditions)	800	6,038,000	●	Hindi	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Batgama	389,000	389,000	●	Sinhala	1 ●	Buddhism	1.48 %	-1	7
Berava	364,000	364,000	●	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	1,111,000	●	Gujarati	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Boya	17,000	4,042,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	14.00 %	-1	-1 -
Brahmin	101,000	63,684,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	2
Brahmin Indian Tamil	32,000	32,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Hinduism	0.45 %	-1	1
Burgher	46,000	46,000	●	Sinhala	3 ●	Christianity	77.62 %	-1	-1 -
Burmese	600	32,048,000		Burmese	1 ●	Buddhism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Chakkiliyan	33,000	1,337,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	14.97 %	-1	-1 -
Chinese, general	700	12,984,000		Chinese, Mandarin	1 ●	Buddhism	3.81 %	-1	1
Christian	27,000	1,078,000	●	Language unknown	3 ●	Christianity	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Couratto	7,100	7,100	●	Sinhala	1 ●	Buddhism	1.72 %	-1	1
Deaf	-1 Unknown	-1 Unknown	●	Sri Lankan Sign Language	2 ●	Buddhism	8.38 %	1.20 %	-1 -
Demala Gattara	7,500	7,500	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	7.52 %	-1	-1 -
Dhobi (Hindu traditions)	11,000	12,650,000	●	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	749,000	749,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	6.74 %	-1	-1 -
Gauraykwallu	19,000	19,000	●	Sinhala	1 ●	Buddhism	3.88 %	-1	1
Goanese	2,300	653,000	●	Konkani	3 ●	Christianity	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Govigama	550,000	550,000	●	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	4,517,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Hakki Pikki	1,300	25,000	●	Telugu	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Handi	1,800	1,800	●	Sinhala	1 ●	Buddhism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Hannali	329,000	329,000	●	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	239,000	239,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	6.70 %	-1	-1 -
Hunna	89,000	89,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	6.49 %	-1	-1 -
Idayan	9,400	78,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	12.72 %	-1	-1 -
Ilavan	81,000	5,969,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	13.34 %	-1	-1 -
Indian Tamil	9,800	9,800	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	36.16 %	-1	-1 -
Japanese	2,300	124,941,000		Japanese	1 ●	Buddhism	1.43 %	-1	1
Jat (Hindu traditions)	1,600	19,377,000	●	Punjabi, Eastern	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Jat (Muslim traditions)	1,800	33,335,000	●	Punjabi, Western	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Javanese	8,600	17,908,000		Javanese	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Kadaiyar	1,000	18,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	7.45 %	-1	-1 -
Kaikolan	80,000	2,511,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	12.52 %	-1	-1 -
Kallan	18,000	1,288,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	9.12 %	-1	-1 -
Kapu	1,400	15,208,000	●	Telugu	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Karaiyar	189,000	189,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	15.81 %	-1	-1 -
Karava	1,065,000	1,065,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	7.40 %	-1	-1 -
Kasar (Hindu traditions)	3,500	732,000	●	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	202,000	202,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	17.02 %	-1	-1 -
Koviyar	1,000	1,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	15.77 %	-1	-1 -
Kuravan	4,600	493,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Kustarogiyo	15,000	15,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	5.31 %	-1	-1 -
Lohar (Hindu traditions)	900	9,671,000	●	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	10,360,000	●	Bengali	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Malay, Javar	44,000	11,787,000		Sri Lankan Creole Malay	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Malayali	800	1,244,000	●	Malayalam	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Malayan, tribal	1,600	42,000	●	Malayalam	2 ●	Hinduism	12.08 %	-1	-1 -
Mangala	700	1,872,000	●	Telugu	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Mappila	11,000	9,221,000	●	Malayalam	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Marakkalage	9,000	9,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Maravan	101,000	3,251,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	2
Maravar	85,000	85,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	16.49 %	-1	-1 -
Mauritian	3,800	1,080,000		Morisyen	2 ●	Hinduism	37.50 %	-1	-1 -
Memon	2,100	702,000	●	Gujarati	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Moghal	1,200	2,988,000	●	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	4,302,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	25.93 %	-1	-1 -
Nair	4,100	6,700,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Hinduism	0.51 %	-1	1
Nalavar	43,000	43,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	15.42 %	-1	-1 -
Namassej	600	8,447,000	●	Bengali	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Navait	17,000	74,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Navandanna	1,143,000	1,143,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	7.28 %	-1	-1 -
Navithan	22,000	813,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	13.76 %	-1	-1 -
Oli	29,000	29,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	5.20 %	-1	-1 -
Osta [Nasuva]	8,400	8,400	●	Tamil	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Palla	30,000	30,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	15.91 %	-1	-1 -
Pallan	54,000	3,389,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	12.87 %	-1	-1 -
Pallar	68,000	68,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	16.04 %	-1	-1 -
Palliwilli	2,300	2,300	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	15.08 %	-1	-1 -
Pamunu	30,000	30,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	5.38 %	-1	-1 -
Panar	5,100	249,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	11.96 %	-1	-1 -
Panna	30,000	30,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	16.38 %	-1	-1 -
Pannikki	240,000	240,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	6.62 %	-1	-1 -
Paraiyan	120,000	3,230,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	13.46 %	-1	-1 -
Paraiyar	69,000	69,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	15.03 %	-1	-1 -
Paravan	2,000	131,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	8.42 %	-1	-1 -
Parsee	700	162,000		Gujarati	1 ●	Other / Small	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Pashtun, Northern	42,000	40,684,000	●	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	3.87 %	-1	1
Pulayan	4,700	1,429,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	11.79 %	-1	-1 -
Radava	358,000	358,000	●	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	45,812,000	●	Hindi	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Rajput (Muslim traditions)	1,500	20,025,000	●	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	1,320,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	10.94 %	-1	-1 -
Samban	1,500	53,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	8.03 %	-1	-1 -
Sayyid	50,000	15,668,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Semman, Sempadawar	1,200	6,100	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	6.25 %	-1	-1 -
Shaikh	204,000	236,707,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	4
Silpi	3,400	204,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	10.80 %	-1	-1 -
Sindhi (Muslim traditions)	1,000	310,000	●	Sindhi	1 ●	Islam	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Sinhalese	166,000	166,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	6.81 %	-1	-1 -
Siviyar	500	500	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	16.00 %	-1	-1 -
Sonar (Hindu traditions)	6,400	7,818,000	●	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 %	9
Sri Lankan Tamil	8,800	8,800	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	37.72 %	-1	-1 -
Syrian Christian	700	3,729,000	●	Malayalam	3 ●	Christianity	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Tamil (Muslim traditions)	1,155,000	4,320,000	●	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	19,144,000	●	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	1,600	1,600	●	Sinhala	1 ●	Buddhism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Valluvan	3,100	135,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	9.86 %	-1	-1 -
Vaniyan	17,000	954,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	12.77 %	-1	-1 -
Vannan	30,000	1,038,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	12.58 %	-1	-1 -
Vannar	16,000	16,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	14.49 %	-1	-1 -
Vanniyan	37,000	12,658,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	12.06 %	-1	-1 -
Vanniyar	98,000	98,000	●	Tamil	2 ●	Hinduism	15.46 %	-1	-1 -
Vedda	300	300	●	Veddah	2 ●	Unknown	43.75 %	-1	-1 -
Velakkithalanayan	700	354,000	●	Malayalam	2 ●	Hinduism	12.08 %	-1	-1 -
Vellalan	31,000	2,567,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Vellalar	1,145,000	1,145,000	●	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	7,400	7,724,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Hinduism	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Wahumpura	8,066,000	8,066,000	●	Sinhala	2 ●	Buddhism	7.01 %	-1	-1 -
Yadav (Hindu traditions)	7,500	60,337,000	●	Tamil	1 ●	Hinduism	0.85 %	-1	1
Yamannu	80,000	80,000	●	Sinhala	1 ●	Buddhism	3.68 %	-1	1
Totals: 165	20,766,000				76 ●		7.46 %	0.00 %	117
Unclassified / Other Individuals	184,000
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 ●	142	Urdu	Islam
Ahmadi	1 ●	60	Language Unknown	Islam
Arora (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	477	Punjabi, Eastern	Hinduism
Bagdi (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	490	Bengali	Hinduism
Bairagi (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	400	Bengali	Hinduism
Bauri	1 ●	296	Bengali	Hinduism
Darzi (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	180	Hindi	Hinduism
Dhobi, Hindu	0 ●	1	Language Unknown	Hinduism
Goan Catholic	2 ●	402	Konkani, Goan	Christianity
Gujar (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	345	Punjabi, Eastern	Hinduism
Gujar (Muslim traditions)	1 ●	220	Punjabi, Eastern	Islam
Japanese	1 ●	226	Japanese	Other / Small
Jat (Sikh traditions)	1 ●	379	Punjabi, Eastern	Other / Small
Jat, Hindu	1 ●	432	Panjabi, Eastern	Hinduism
Javanese	1 ●	144	Language Unknown	Islam
Jew	1 ●	20	Malayalam	Ethnic Religions
Jogi (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	450	Bengali	Hinduism
Kayastha (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	305	Bengali	Hinduism
Khatri (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	265	Punjabi, Eastern	Hinduism
Khoja	1 ●	60	Gujarati	Islam
Koli (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	144	Gujarati	Hinduism
Kumhar (Hindu traditions)	2 ●	450	Tamil	Hinduism
Kunbi (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	370	Hindi	Hinduism
Kunbi, Hindu	1 ●	226	Marathi	Hinduism
Kurmi (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	380	Bengali	Hinduism
Madagascar migrant	0 ●	20	Malagasy, Plateau	Unknown
Madari	1 ●	381	Sindhi	Islam
Madiga (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	275	Telugu	Hinduism
Mahratta	1 ●	411	Marathi	Hinduism
Mahratta	1 ●	255	Marathi	Hinduism
Mala (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	286	Telugu	Hinduism
Malabar Catholic	3 ●	300	Malayalam	Christianity
Mappila	1 ●	494	Malayalam	Islam
Moghal	1 ●	20	Urdu	Islam
Persian	1 ●	70	Farsi, Eastern (Dari)	Islam
Persian	1 ●	140	Persian, Iranian	Islam
Pinjara	1 ●	185	Urdu	Islam
Pod	1 ●	225	Bengali	Hinduism
Rajbansi (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	240	Bengali	Hinduism
Rajput	1 ●	185	Telugu	Hinduism
Rajput (Sikh traditions)	1 ●	153	Hindi	Other / Small
Sayyid	1 ●	20	Urdu	Islam
Shaikh	1 ●	113	Tamil	Islam
Sindh Muslim	1 ●	432	Sindhi	Islam
Somali	1 ●	30	Somali	Islam
Somalia	1 ●	140	Somali	Islam
Syrian Christian	2 ●	102	Malayalam	Christianity
Tai Shan, Buddhist	1 ●	70	Language Unknown	Buddhism
Tanti (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	260	Bengali	Hinduism
Tili	1 ●	240	Bengali	Hinduism
Vaddar (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	230	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	2,736,000	145	66	45.5 %	598,000	21.9 %	3
Eastern	1,662,000	124	51	41.1 %	663,000	39.9 %	3
North Central	1,348,000	85	31	36.5 %	175,000	13.0 %	2
North Western	2,536,000	108	45	41.7 %	414,000	16.3 %	2
Northern	1,036,000	93	36	38.7 %	97,000	9.3 %	4
Sabaragamuwa	2,060,000	125	54	43.2 %	278,000	13.5 %	2
Southern	1,774,000	108	40	37.0 %	69,000	3.9 %	2
Uva	1,355,000	129	55	42.6 %	199,000	14.7 %	2
Western	6,235,000	144	62	43.1 %	638,000	10.2 %	3
Country:	20,766,000	165	76	46.1 %	3,156,000	15.2 %	23

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	1 None, Definite Need None
Bengali	ben	2	2	4 Complete Bible
Burmese	mya	1	1	4 Complete Bible
Chinese, Mandarin	cmn	1	1	4 Complete Bible
Gujarati	guj	4	4	4 Complete Bible
Hindi	hin	4	4	4 Complete Bible
Japanese	jpn	1	1	4 Complete Bible
Javanese	jav	1	1	4 Complete Bible
Konkani	knn	1	0	4 Complete Bible
Malayalam	mal	7	2	4 Complete Bible
Maldivian	div	1	1	2 Bible Portions
Marwari	rwr	2	2	3 New Testament
Morisyen	mfe	1	0	3 New Testament
Punjabi, Eastern	pan	1	1	4 Complete Bible
Punjabi, Western	pnb	3	3	4 Complete Bible
Sindhi	snd	1	1	4 Complete Bible
Sinhala	sin	45	16	4 Complete Bible
Sri Lankan Creole Malay	sci	1	1	0 Trans Need ? Need ?
Sri Lankan Sign Language	sqs	1	0	0 Trans Need ? Need ?
Tamil	tam	76	26	4 Complete Bible
Telugu	tel	4	4	4 Complete Bible
Unknown	xxx	1	0	Trans Need ? Need ?
Urdu	urd	4	4	4 Complete Bible
Veddah	ved	1	0	0 Trans Need ? Need ?
Totals:	24	165	76		15	16	20	20	13

Click column headings for sorting ▲▼
State ▲	Population	Hindu	Muslim	Christian	Buddhist	Other	% Christian Adherent
Central	2,736,000	600,000	280,000	101,000	1,755,000	230	3.69 %
Eastern	1,662,000	587,000	608,000	88,500	378,000	370	5.33 %
North Central	1,348,000	11,100	108,000	15,800	1,214,000	70	1.17 %
North Western	2,536,000	48,600	285,000	327,000	1,876,000	190	12.89 %
Northern	1,036,000	766,000	34,500	204,000	30,700	40	19.72 %
Sabaragamuwa	2,060,000	170,000	93,700	35,700	1,760,000	50	1.73 %
Southern	1,774,000	18,500	57,600	13,400	1,685,000	70	0.76 %
Uva	1,355,000	187,000	59,900	22,600	1,085,000	140	1.67 %
Western	6,235,000	313,000	536,000	824,000	4,559,000	2,340	13.22 %
Country:	20,766,000	2,701,000	2,063,000	1,632,000	14,343,000	3,500	7.86 %

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	165
Unreached People Groups	76 (46.1%)
Population	20,766,000
Population Annual Growth Rate	0.5%
Population in Unreached	3,156,000 (15.2%)
Pioneer Workers Needed *	117
Primary Religion	Buddhism
Percent Christian Adherent	7.5%
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	93%
Estimated Illiterate Population	1,454,000
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.