• Religion:  

Religion: Buddhism What is Primary Religion?

Population of Adherents

501,315,000

% of World Population

6.3 %

People Groups

686

Unreached Groups

533 (77.7 %)

Map Notes
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Progress Scale: ●●●●●   
☀
 = Frontier peoples
Photo ▲ People Group Country Population Primary Language Primary Religion Progress
Scale 		% Christian
Adherent 		%
Evangelical 		Scripture
Status 		Est. Workers
Needed *
Nyenpa Bhutan 13,000 Nyenkha Buddhism ☀ 0.00 % 0.00 % Translation Needed 1
Okinawan, Ryukyuan Bolivia 2,500 Okinawan, Central Buddhism ● 1.50 % 0.10 % Bible Portions 1
Olot China 3,200 Kalmyk-Oirat Buddhism ☀ 0.00 % 0.00 % New Testament 1
Oy Laos 25,000 Oy Buddhism ● 1.00 % 0.80 % Unspecified 1
Pa-O Myanmar (Burma) 860,000 Pa'o Buddhism ● 1.70 % 0.30 % New Testament 17
Pa-O Thailand 900 Pa'o Buddhism ● 25.00 % 1.00 % New Testament -
Palaung, Pale Myanmar (Burma) 291,000 Palaung, Ruching Buddhism ☀ 0.10 % 0.06 % Complete Bible 6
Palaung, Pale Thailand 6,400 Palaung, Ruching Buddhism ● 1.00 % 0.93 % Complete Bible 1
Palaung, Rumai Myanmar (Burma) 158,000 Palaung, Rumai Buddhism ● 0.40 % 0.20 % Bible Portions 3
Palaung, Shwe Myanmar (Burma) 232,000 Palaung, Shwe Buddhism ● 0.20 % 0.12 % Unspecified 5
Pankhu, Panko Bangladesh 5,800 Pangkhua Buddhism ● 3.31 % Translation Started 1
Phu Thai Laos 231,000 Phu Thai Buddhism ● 0.50 % 0.04 % Translation Started 5
Phu Thai Thailand 504,000 Phu Thai Buddhism ● 0.60 % 0.10 % Translation Started 10
Phu Thai United States 57,000 Phu Thai Buddhism ● 1.00 % 0.10 % Translation Started 1
Phu Thai Vietnam 252,000 Phu Thai Buddhism ● 4.50 % 2.50 % Translation Started -
Qiang, Cimulin China 17,000 Qiang, Northern Buddhism ☀ 0.01 % 0.01 % Unspecified 1
Qiang, Luhua China 24,000 Qiang, Northern Buddhism ☀ 0.01 % 0.01 % Unspecified 1
Qiang, Mawo China 20,000 Qiang, Northern Buddhism ☀ 0.01 % 0.01 % Unspecified 1
Qiang, Yadu China 39,000 Qiang, Northern Buddhism ☀ 0.01 % 0.01 % Unspecified 1
Qixingmin China 6,000 Chinese, Mandarin Buddhism ☀ 0.00 % 0.00 % Complete Bible 1
Queyu China 11,000 Queyu Buddhism ☀ 0.00 % 0.00 % Unspecified 1
Rakhine Bangladesh 19,000 Rakhine Buddhism ☀ 0.00 % 0.00 % Bible Portions 1
Rakhine Myanmar (Burma) 2,687,000 Rakhine Buddhism ☀ 0.10 % 0.05 % Bible Portions 54
Rigzong India 8,400 Ladakhi Buddhism ☀ 0.00 % 0.00 % Complete Bible 1
Rigzong Pakistan 1,700 Balti Buddhism ☀ 0.00 % 0.00 % Bible Portions 1
Totals: 686 Peoples   501,315,000     533 ●       5,942
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Disclaimers:
  1. Joshua Project data is drawn from many sources and of varying accuracy depending on source and editorial decisions. Populations are scaled to the current year. Other data may have varying ages. We welcome updates.
  2. Joshua Project occasionally adjusts profile text from third party sources. This is done to avoid confusion regarding the current reality of a people group, to fix grammar and spelling and to avoid potentially offensive wording.
  3. A displayed zero can mean true zero, a very small rounded number or sometimes unknown. Blanks mean an unknown value.
  4. Data is not as precise as it appears. Values for %Christian Adherent and %Evangelical (which determine unreached status) are often informed estimates, some more accurate than others. We recommend against using %Christian Adherent and %Evangelical to calculate absolute numbers.
  5. Joshua Project makes every effort to ensure that the subject in an image is in fact from the specific people group. In rare instances a representative photo may be used.
  6. Joshua Project may be able to provide more information than what is published on this site. Please contact us.
  7. On-the-ground reality may vary from what is presented here. Before making travel plans based on data presented here, please confirm with other sources to the extent possible.
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