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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Otavalo Highland Quichua of Ecuador

The Otavalo Highland Quichua of Ecuador, numbering approximately 726,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an ethnolinguistic community of Ecuador They are an Indigenous people, with Quechua / Quichua as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Quechua people cluster of the Latin American and Caribbean Peoples. Their primary religion is Folk Catholicism. They primarily speak Imbabura Highland Quichua.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Quichua, Imbabura Highland

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Ecuador
People Cluster: Quechua
Primary Language(s): Imbabura Highland Quichua (qvi)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Catholicism
Population: 726,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG017472
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Pray for the Otavalo Highland Quichua of Ecuador

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: Folk Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

94%
%
Folk Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Imbabura Highland Quichua
Language Family: Quechuan

100%
%
Quichua, Imbabura Highland Speakers

Media Resources in Imbabura Highland Quichua:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Imbabura Highland Quichua:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Imbabura Highland Quichua bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Otavalo Highland Quichua 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 Otavalo Highland Quichua:
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 Otavalo Highland Quichua of Ecuador

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."
readJohn 16:33

Pray that those who don't have peace with God will find peace in Christ, even amid the troubles of this world.

Other seeds fell on good soil and produced grain, some a hundredfold, some sixty, some thirty. He who has ears, let him hear.
readMatthew 13:8-9

Pray that they will have open hearts and minds to the Word of God, and that it will take root in their lives and bear fruit for His glory.

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures.
readPsalm 23:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember that the Lord is their shepherd, providing for their every need.

And Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men." And immediately they left their nets and followed him.
readMark 1:17-18

Pray that God will raise up believers from this place and/or other cultures nearby to proclaim the gospel to those who desperately need to encounter it.

Quichua, Imbabura Highland Across Countries (ROP3 - 107703) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Otavalo Highland QuichuaPG017472Otavalo Highland QuichuaEcuador726,000Engaged yet UnreachedImbabura Highland QuichuaFolk Catholicism

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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