Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

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
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
Be sure to use the data import function in your favorite app for working with data.
If you'd like to help improve these translations, Contact Us.

PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Western Chams of Cambodia

The Western Chams of Cambodia, numbering approximately 302,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an Austronesian ethnolinguistic group indigenous to the Kampong Cham province in Cambodia and the An Giang province in southern Vietnam They are an Indigenous people, with Cham as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Cham people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Sunni Islam. They primarily speak Cham, Western.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Western Cham

Fast Facts*:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Cambodia
People Cluster: Cham
Primary Language(s): Cham, Western (cja)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 302,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG008199
View on Joshua Project

Print Profile
Submit Updates

Pray for the Western Chams of Cambodia

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.

Pray Now!
Download Prayer Guide

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

92%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Cham, Western
Language Family: Austronesian

74%
%
Cham, Western Speakers

Media Resources in Cham, Western:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Cham, Western:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Cham, Western New Testament✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Cham, Western bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Western Chams are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Western Chams:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Western Chams of Cambodia

Abraham said, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together.
readGenesis 22:8

Pray that God will open the ears of those who are lost to understand and believe that only shed blood takes away sin and that, like Abraham, they will believe that God Himself provides the lamb for the burnt offering, who is Jesus the final, perfect sacrifice.

The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.
readLamentations 3:23-23

Pray that they will have hope in the Lord, knowing that His compassions never fails and that His mercies are new every morning.

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.
readHebrews 10:26

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will live with reverence for God and not deliberately keep sinning after they receive the knowledge of the truth.

O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart.
readPsalm 15:1-2

Ask God to send believers who will go and, with integrity, walk blamelessly and do what is right, speaking truth about the Lord with those who need to learn about His redemption plan.

Cham, Western Across Countries (ROP3 - 110776) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▲
Western ChamsPG043652Western ChamsUnited States1,200Unengaged and UnreachedCham, WesternEthnoreligion
Western ChamsPG008199Western ChamsCambodia302,000Engaged yet UnreachedCham, WesternSunni Islam
Western ChamsPG011245Western ChamsVietnam150,000Engaged yet UnreachedCham, WesternSunni Islam
Western ChamsPG020897Western ChamsLaos250Unengaged and UnreachedCham, WesternSunni 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.

Scroll to Top