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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Ambonese of Netherlands

The Ambonese of Netherlands, numbering approximately 51,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a community from Ambon Island and nearby islands in the Central Moluccas (Maluku) in eastern Indonesia, a distinct post‑colonial community whose presence in the Netherlands stems directly from the collapse of Dutch rule in Indonesia after World War II. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Ambonese Malay is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Ambonese

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Netherlands
People Cluster: Maluku-Central
Primary Language(s): Ambonese Malay (abs)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 51,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG000389
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Pray for the Ambonese of Netherlands

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

—
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Ambonese Malay
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Malay, Ambonese Speakers

Media Resources in Ambonese Malay:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Ambonese Malay:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Ambonese Malay bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Ambonese are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Ambonese:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Ambonese of Netherlands

For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
readPsalm 97:9

Pray that those who don't yet know Him will recognize the Lord as the Most High and turn from spiritual darkness to worship Him above all else.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise).
readEphesians 6:1-2

Pray that God will bring young men and women to faith in Jesus and that the fruit of their faith will be a powerful testimony as they honor their parents.

Sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth.
readJohn 17:17

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will experience freedom from sin as God sanctifies them in the truth of His Word.

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
readRomans 12:4-5

Ask God to send believers to people in other cultures and to help them use their gifts in harmony with others so that the body of Christ may be built up.

Ambonese Across Countries (ROP3 - 100274) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
AmbonesePG022625AmboneseIndonesia330,000No Longer UnreachedAmbonese MalayProtestantism
AmbonesePG000389AmboneseNetherlands51,500No Longer UnreachedAmbonese MalaySunni Islam

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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