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
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Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Yacan of Malaysia

The Yacan of Malaysia, numbering approximately 16,500 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Filipino Muslim ethnolinguistic group indigenous to the Sulu Archipelago in southwestern Philippines. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Yakan is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Malaysia
People Cluster: Filipino, Muslim
Primary Language(s): Yakan (yka)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 16,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG009374
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Pray for the Yacan of Malaysia

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

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Yakan
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Yakan Speakers

Media Resources in Yakan:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Yakan:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2019 Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Yakan bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Yacan:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Pray specifically for the Yacan of Malaysia

And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in him may have eternal life.
readJohn 3:14-15

Pray that the lost among them will look to the One lifted up on the cross, believing in Him and receiving eternal life.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns."
readIsaiah 52:7

Pray that those who don't know the good news of peace and salvation through Jesus Christ will have an opportunity to receive it. Pray that it will bring hope and healing to their souls.

But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed.
readIsaiah 53:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will find comfort and spiritual healing as they remember the wounds of Christ, who understands their suffering because He also walked through suffering on their behalf.

Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!"
readIsaiah 40:9

Pray for God to send and sustain believers to go and herald the good news to the lost here.

Yakan Across Countries (ROP3 - 110934) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
YakanPG007812YakanPhilippines215,000Engaged yet UnreachedYakanSunni Islam
YacanPG009374YacanMalaysia16,500Unengaged and UnreachedYakanSunni 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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