The Bahnar of Vietnam

The Bahnar of Vietnam, numbering approximately 228,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an Indigenous Austroasiatic people of Vietnam's Central Highlands whose ancestors migrated westward from the Ba River region and who form one of the largest Bahnaric-speaking communities, closely linked to the history and culture of the Tây Nguyên. They mostly adhere to Animism and Bahnar is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Vietnam
People Cluster: Mon-Khmer
Primary Language(s): Bahnar (bdq)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 228,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG011108
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Bahnar of Vietnam

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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

78%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bahnar
Language Family: Austroasiatic

100%
%
Bahnar Speakers

Media Resources in Bahnar:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Bahnar:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Bahnar Bible✓

1 entry

Or check out the Bahnar bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Bahnar 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 Bahnar:
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 Bahnar of Vietnam

But he said, "What is impossible with man is possible with God."
readLuke 18:27

Praise God that He is the God of impossible things and that He is able to save even those who seem beyond hope.

He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
readIsaiah 40:11

Pray that the lost will come to know the tender care of the Good Shepherd, who gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart.

The LORD lift up his countenance upon you and give you peace.
readNumbers 6:26

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be blessed with peace in their lives, knowing that God is with them.

"For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you."
readActs 17:23

Pray that believers God sends to cross cultures will be sensitive to the spiritual needs of the people they serve, and will proclaim the truth of Christ to them in creative ways that they will understand.

Bahnar Across Countries (ROP3 - 100770) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

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