The Bengali of Saudi Arabia

The Bengali of Saudi Arabia, numbering approximately 1,080,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic community originating from and culturally affiliated with the Bengal region of South Asia They are an Diaspora people, with Bengali as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Bengali people cluster of the South Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Sunni Islam. They primarily speak Bengali.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: Saudi Arabia
People Cluster: Bengali
Primary Language(s): Bengali (ben)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 1,080,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011915
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Bengali of Saudi Arabia

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: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bengali
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Bengali Speakers

Media Resources in Bengali:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

5 films

Bible Resources in Bengali:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Common Language Version✓✓✓
Mussolmani✓✓
Re-edit Bangla Version✓✓

3 entries

Or check out the Bengali bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Bengali 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 Bengali:
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 Bengali of Saudi Arabia

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,' and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.
readPsalm 32:5

Pray those who are lost will realize their sin, confess their iniquity, and grow in their understanding of salvation through faith in Christ alone.

Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
readMark 10:14b

Praise Jesus for the way He loves children, asking that many will learn the truth about Him and come to Him unhindered.

My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.
readJohn 10:27

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will hear God's voice and will have the great assurance that no one can snatch them from the Father’s hand.

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
readIsaiah 58:7

As believers cross cultures to share the good news of Christ, pray that God will sustain them and grow their faith as He gives them the compassion necessary to minister well to those in need.

Bengali Across Countries (ROP3 - 101254) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

16 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
BengaliBengaliIndia4,585,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliMalaysia500,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliOman267,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliUnited States377,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliCanada81,500Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliGermany15,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliItaly134,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliKenya1,700Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliUnited Arab Emirates1,355,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliSaudi Arabia1,080,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliThailand35,500Unengaged and UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliSingapore157,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliMyanmar347,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliSri Lanka25,500Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliPakistan393,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliUnited Kingdom1,175,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni 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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