Sri Lanka

Country: Sri Lanka South Asia Peoples website

Number of People Groups

166

People Groups Unreached

78 (47.0%)

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

21,377,000

Population in Unreached

3,264,000 (15.3%)

Largest Religion

Buddhism (69.7%)

% Christian Adherent *

7.62%

% 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	308,000	●	Telugu	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Agamudaiyan	18,000	906,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	13.59 %	-1	-1 -
Agamudaiyan Nattaman	8,700	671,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	14.65 %	-1	-1 -
Ahinkuntaya	61,000	61,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	6.52 %	-1	-1 -
Ambalavasi	16,000	175,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	14.98 %	-1	-1 -
Ambattan	15,000	15,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	14.49 %	-1	-1 -
Ansari	1,000	14,793,000	●	Urdu	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Arab	5,200	704,000		Arabic, Mesopotamian Spoken	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Arain (Muslim traditions)	600	9,964,000	●	Punjabi, Western	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Badahala	114,000	114,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	7.52 %	-1	-1 -
Baloch	900	7,439,000	●	Urdu	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Bania	16,000	29,571,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Bania Agarwal	21,000	4,919,000	●	Gujarati	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Bania Chetti	6,300	739,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Bania Mahajan	1,300	190,000	●	Hindi	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Bania Mahesri	1,900	370,000	●	Marwari	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Bania Porwal	1,900	331,000	●	Marwari	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Banjara (Hindu traditions)	800	6,162,000	●	Hindi	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Batgama	380,000	380,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	1 ●	1.48 %	-1	8
Berava	372,000	372,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	6.56 %	-1	-1 -
Bharathar (Christian traditions)	1,400	40,000	●	Tamil	Christianity	3 ●	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Bharathar (Hindu traditions)	400	12,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Bintanna	6,800	6,800	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	5.05 %	-1	-1 -
Bodhivansha	15,000	15,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	6.02 %	-1	-1 -
Bohra	2,000	1,124,000	●	Gujarati	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Boya	17,000	4,073,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	14.00 %	-1	-1 -
Brahmin	108,000	63,125,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	1 ●	0.22 %	-1	2
Brahmin Indian Tamil	31,000	31,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	1 ●	0.45 %	-1	1
Burgher	46,000	46,000	●	Sinhala	Christianity	3 ●	87.06 %	-1	-1 -
Burmese	600	32,284,000		Burmese	Buddhism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Chakkiliyan (Christian traditions)	4,800	123,000	●	Tamil	Christianity	3 ●	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Chakkiliyan (Hindu traditions)	27,000	889,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	1 ●	0.12 %	-1	1
Christian	27,000	1,707,000	●	Language unknown	Christianity	3 ●	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Couratto	7,000	7,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	1 ●	1.72 %	-1	1
Deaf	107,000	48,207,000	●	Sri Lankan Sign Language	Buddhism	2 ●	8.38 %	-1	-1 -
Demala Gattara	8,100	8,100	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	7.52 %	-1	-1 -
Dhobi (Hindu traditions)	11,000	12,319,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	1 ●	1.22 %	-1	1
Divehi	1,900	3,100	●	Maldivian	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Dodda-Weddah	38,000	38,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	6.50 %	-1	-1 -
Durava	729,000	729,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	8.12 %	-1	-1 -
Gahala	11,000	11,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	1 ●	0.78 %	-1	1
Gattara	765,000	765,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	6.74 %	-1	-1 -
Gauraykwallu	19,000	19,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	1 ●	3.88 %	-1	1
Goanese	2,300	691,000	●	Konkani	Christianity	3 ●	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Govigama	561,000	561,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	6.90 %	-1	-1 -
Govigama Patti	27,000	27,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	5.28 %	-1	-1 -
Govigama Radala	28,000	28,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	5.27 %	-1	-1 -
Hajam	4,900	4,305,000	●	Tamil	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Hakki Pikki	1,200	26,000	●	Telugu	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Handi	1,800	1,800	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Hannali	336,000	336,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	6.85 %	-1	-1 -
Hanomoreyo	5,400	5,400	●	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	244,000	244,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	6.70 %	-1	-1 -
Hunna	91,000	91,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	6.49 %	-1	-1 -
Idayan	9,300	81,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	12.72 %	-1	-1 -
Ilavan	69,000	5,896,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.09 %	-1	1
Ilavan Christian	11,000	129,000	●	Tamil	Christianity	3 ●	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Indian Tamil	9,800	9,800	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	36.16 %	-1	-1 -
Japanese	2,300	122,406,000		Japanese	Buddhism	1 ●	2.87 %	-1	1
Jat (Hindu traditions)	1,600	19,359,000	●	Punjabi, Eastern	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Jat (Muslim traditions)	1,700	29,863,000	●	Punjabi, Western	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Javanese	8,600	18,403,000		Javanese	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Kaikolan	79,000	2,571,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	12.52 %	-1	-1 -
Kallan	18,000	1,300,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	9.12 %	-1	-1 -
Kapu	1,300	15,425,000	●	Telugu	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Karaiyar	196,000	196,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	15.81 %	-1	-1 -
Karava	1,083,000	1,083,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	7.40 %	-1	-1 -
Kasar (Hindu traditions)	3,400	668,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	7.95 %	-1	-1 -
Kiddea	15,000	15,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	6.10 %	-1	-1 -
Kinnara	29,000	29,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	1 ●	0.46 %	-1	1
Konta Durayi	1,900	1,900	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Koviar	212,000	212,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	17.02 %	-1	-1 -
Koviyar	1,200	1,200	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	15.77 %	-1	-1 -
Kumhar (Hindu traditions)	6,300	16,185,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	9.55 %	-1	-1 -
Kuravan (Hindu traditions)	4,000	431,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Kustarogiyo	15,000	15,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	5.31 %	-1	-1 -
Lohar (Hindu traditions)	900	9,857,000	●	Hindi	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Madari (Muslim traditions)	500	106,000	●	Urdu	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Mahishya	600	10,677,000	●	Bengali	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Malay, Javar	43,000	17,557,000		Sri Lankan Malay Creole	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Malayali	800	1,597,000	●	Malayalam	Hinduism	2 ●	11.02 %	-1	-1 -
Malayan, caste	1,600	37,000	●	Malayalam	Hinduism	2 ●	12.08 %	-1	-1 -
Mangala	700	1,927,000	●	Telugu	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Mappila	11,000	8,772,000	●	Malayalam	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Marakkalage	8,800	8,800	●	Tamil	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Maravan	100,000	3,313,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	13.51 %	-1	-1 -
Maravar	87,000	87,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	16.49 %	-1	-1 -
Mauritian	3,800	1,080,000		Morisyen	Hinduism	2 ●	45.11 %	-1	-1 -
Memon	2,100	747,000	●	Gujarati	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Moghal	1,100	2,900,000	●	Urdu	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Mukkuvan (Hindu traditions)	1,100	160,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	1 ●	2.78 %	-1	1
Mukkuvar	42,000	42,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	18.51 %	-1	-1 -
Nadar (Christian traditions)	9,000	1,285,000	●	Tamil	Christianity	3 ●	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Nadar (Hindu traditions)	26,000	3,041,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Nair	4,100	6,742,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	1 ●	0.51 %	-1	1
Nalavar	45,000	45,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	15.42 %	-1	-1 -
Namassej (Hindu traditions)	600	8,013,000	●	Bengali	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Navait	17,000	74,000	●	Tamil	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Navandanna	1,166,000	1,166,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	7.28 %	-1	-1 -
Navithan	22,000	835,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	13.76 %	-1	-1 -
Oli	30,000	30,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	5.20 %	-1	-1 -
Osta (Nasuva)	8,200	8,200	●	Tamil	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Palla	32,000	32,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	15.91 %	-1	-1 -
Pallan (Christian traditions)	6,900	469,000	●	Tamil	Christianity	3 ●	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Pallan (Hindu traditions)	46,000	2,517,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Pallar	69,000	69,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	16.04 %	-1	-1 -
Palliwilli	2,200	2,200	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	15.08 %	-1	-1 -
Pamunu	31,000	31,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	5.38 %	-1	-1 -
Panan	5,100	240,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	11.96 %	-1	-1 -
Panna	33,000	33,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	16.38 %	-1	-1 -
Pannikki	245,000	245,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	6.62 %	-1	-1 -
Paraiyan (Christian traditions)	16,000	808,000	●	Tamil	Christianity	3 ●	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Paraiyan (Hindu traditions)	103,000	2,307,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	2
Paraiyar	71,000	71,000	●	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	11,695,000	●	Tamil	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Pidayne Danno	8,900	8,900	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	1 ●	3.51 %	-1	1
Porowakara	60,000	60,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	5.08 %	-1	-1 -
Primanar	73,000	73,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	1 ●	3.07 %	-1	1
Pulayan	4,600	1,062,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	11.79 %	-1	-1 -
Radava	366,000	366,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	7.36 %	-1	-1 -
Radayo	1,800	1,800	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Rajaka	150,000	150,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	7.03 %	-1	-1 -
Rajput (Hindu traditions)	2,200	45,785,000	●	Hindi	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Rajput (Muslim traditions)	1,500	17,352,000	●	Punjabi, Western	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Rodiya	18,000	18,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Salagama	313,000	313,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	12.16 %	-1	-1 -
Sali, Seriyar	3,400	1,055,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	10.94 %	-1	-1 -
Samban	1,400	22,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	8.03 %	-1	-1 -
Sayyid	50,000	14,530,000	●	Tamil	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Semman	1,200	6,200	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	6.25 %	-1	-1 -
Shaikh	203,000	223,464,000	●	Tamil	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	4
Silpi	3,400	209,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	10.80 %	-1	-1 -
Sindhi (Muslim traditions)	1,000	165,000	●	Sindhi	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Sinhalese	186,000	186,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	6.81 %	-1	-1 -
Sonar (Hindu traditions)	6,300	7,885,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	1 ●	1.00 %	-1	1
Sri Lanka Chetti	6,300	6,300	●	Tamil	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Sri Lanka Moor	481,000	481,000	●	Tamil	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	10
Sri Lankan Tamil	9,400	9,400	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	37.72 %	-1	-1 -
Syrian Christian	700	3,733,000	●	Malayalam	Christianity	3 ●	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Tamil (Muslim traditions)	1,146,000	4,349,000	●	Tamil	Islam	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	23
Tattar	5,900	5,900	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	12.06 %	-1	-1 -
Teli (Hindu traditions)	4,800	19,359,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	6.93 %	-1	-1 -
Thacher	3,100	3,100	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	9.83 %	-1	-1 -
Thanakavar	2,500	2,500	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	9.53 %	-1	-1 -
Thimilar	21,000	21,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	15.42 %	-1	-1 -
Tondagattan	1,500	1,500	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Valluvan	3,000	120,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	9.86 %	-1	-1 -
Vaniyan	17,000	971,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	12.77 %	-1	-1 -
Vannan (Christian traditions)	3,700	153,000	●	Tamil	Christianity	3 ●	100.00 %	-1	-1 -
Vannan (Hindu traditions)	26,000	920,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Vannar	17,000	17,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	14.49 %	-1	-1 -
Vanniyan	37,000	12,844,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	12.06 %	-1	-1 -
Vanniyar	101,000	101,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	15.46 %	-1	-1 -
Vedda	300	300	●	Sinhala	Christianity	2 ●	50.00 %	-1	-1 -
Vellalan	30,000	2,627,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	12.47 %	-1	-1 -
Vellalar	1,179,000	1,179,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	14.80 %	-1	-1 -
Vellidura	1,200	1,200	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	0 ☀	0.00 %	0.00 %	1
Vettar	3,100	3,100	●	Tamil	Hinduism	2 ●	8.86 %	-1	-1 -
Viswakarma	7,300	7,701,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	1 ●	2.80 %	-1	1
Wahumpura	8,249,000	8,249,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	2 ●	7.01 %	-1	-1 -
Yadav (Hindu traditions)	7,300	59,932,000	●	Tamil	Hinduism	1 ●	0.85 %	-1	1
Yamannu	78,000	78,000	●	Sinhala	Buddhism	1 ●	3.68 %	-1	2
Totals: 166	21,377,000					78 ●	7.62 %	0.00 %	122
Unclassified / Other Individuals	120,000
UN Country Population (2021)	21,497,000

Other minor groups: 36

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
Arayan	2 ●	900	Malayalam	Hinduism
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
Kadaiyar	2 ●	1,000	Tamil	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
Kuravan (Christian traditions)	3 ●	500	Tamil	Christianity
Kurmi (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	400	Bengali	Hinduism
Madappalli	2 ●	800	Tamil	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
Siviyar	2 ●	500	Tamil	Hinduism
Somalia	1 ●	100	Somali	Islam
Tanti (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	300	Bengali	Hinduism
Thurumber	2 ●	1,000	Tamil	Hinduism
Tili	1 ●	200	Bengali	Hinduism
Vaddar (Hindu traditions)	1 ●	200	Telugu	Hinduism
Velakkithalanayan	2 ●	700	Malayalam	Hinduism
Totals: 36

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-unit (single person or married couple) per 50,000 living in an unreached people group by country, or for example one team of four worker-units per 200,000 people. 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 ▲▼
Province ▲	Population	People Groups	Unreached Groups	% Unreached Peoples	Population in Unreached	% Population Unreached	Districts
Central	2,677,000	150	69	46.0 %	671,000	25.1 %	3
Eastern	1,624,000	129	52	40.3 %	644,000	39.7 %	3
North Central	1,317,000	89	35	39.3 %	171,000	13.0 %	2
North Western	2,477,000	116	49	42.2 %	405,000	16.4 %	2
Northern	1,131,000	94	39	41.5 %	105,000	9.3 %	5
Sabaragamuwa	2,012,000	132	58	43.9 %	284,000	14.1 %	2
Southern	2,583,000	120	44	36.7 %	103,000	4.0 %	3
Uva	1,329,000	133	57	42.9 %	221,000	16.6 %	2
Western	6,091,000	149	64	43.0 %	633,000	10.4 %	3
Country:	21,377,000	166	78	47.0 %	3,264,000	15.3 %	25

Click column headings for sorting ▲▼
Class ▲	Population	% Popl	% Hindu	% Muslim	% Christian	% Buddhist	% Sikh	% Other
Forward Caste (FC)	289,990,000	1,356.6 %	97.3 %	0.0 %	1.1 %	0.1 %	0.0 %	1.5 %
Other Backward Classes (OBC)	774,293,000	3,622.1 %	70.2 %	24.9 %	1.7 %	0.1 %	2.3 %	0.8 %
Scheduled Caste (SC)	207,376,000	970.1 %	93.5 %	0.0 %	0.5 %	3.4 %	2.6 %	0.0 %
Scheduled Tribe (ST)	115,473,000	540.2 %	81.9 %	1.5 %	9.1 %	0.8 %	0.0 %	6.7 %
	21,377,000

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 w/ this Primary Language	# Unreached w/ this 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
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	4	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 Malay Creole	sci	1	1	1 Translation Needed	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1
Sri Lankan Sign Language	sqs	1	0	3 Bible Portions	-1	-1	-1	-1	-1
Tamil	tam	81	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:	22	166	78		14	15	19	19	12

Click column headings for sorting ▲▼
State ▲	Population	Hindu	Muslim	Christian	Buddhist	Other	% Christian Adherent *
Central	2,677,000	589,000	274,000	98,700	1,714,000	230	0.00 %
Eastern	1,624,000	573,000	594,000	87,000	369,000	360	0.00 %
North Central	1,317,000	10,800	105,000	15,400	1,185,000	70	0.00 %
North Western	2,477,000	47,500	278,000	320,000	1,832,000	170	0.00 %
Northern	1,131,000	847,000	34,400	218,000	31,200	40	0.00 %
Sabaragamuwa	2,012,000	166,000	91,700	34,900	1,719,000	50	0.00 %
Southern	2,583,000	36,900	82,800	19,000	2,444,000	90	0.00 %
Uva	1,329,000	189,000	58,500	22,000	1,060,000	130	0.00 %
Western	6,091,000	307,000	523,000	805,000	4,453,000	2,280	0.00 %
Country:	21,377,000	2,766,000	2,041,000	1,620,000	14,807,000	3,400	7.58 %

* 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	166
Unreached People Groups	78 (47.0%)
Population	21,377,000
Population Annual Growth Rate	0.5%
Population in Unreached	3,264,000 (15.3%)
Primary Religion	Buddhism
Percent Christian Adherent *	7.6%
Percent Evangelical	Unknown
Evangelical Annual Growth Rate	2.3%
Pioneer Workers Needed **	122
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	1,069,000
Persecution Ranking	Not ranked

Sri Lanka Prayer Cards
	Sri Lanka prayer cards. All Unreached

Sri Lanka Links
Operation World
World Factbook
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