The Bakumpai of Indonesia

The Bakumpai of Indonesia, numbering approximately 131,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Dayak Ngaju-related people of the Barito River basin in Kalimantan whose identity developed through a distinct Bakumpai heritage and long association with the riverine communities of central and southern Borneo. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Bakumpai is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Bakumpai

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Barito of Kalimantan
Primary Language(s): Bakumpai (bkr)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 131,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022547
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Bakumpai of Indonesia

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

85%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bakumpai
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Bakumpai Speakers

Media Resources in Bakumpai:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Bakumpai:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Bakumpai bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Bakumpai 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 Bakumpai:
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 Bakumpai of Indonesia

For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm!
readPsalm 47:7

Pray for those who live for idols that will never satisfy their hearts, asking that someone will tell them that God is the King of all the earth so that they will turn to Him in repentance and praise.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
read1 John 1:5

As mobile phones, radio, and satellite television, and other technologies become more available worldwide, pray for people who are developing digital gospel resources so that others can easily access the gospel.

Remember your mercy, O LORD, and your steadfast love, for they have been from of old.
readPsalm 25:6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember the merciful nature and steadfast love of God as they walk with Him daily.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
readJohn 1:12

Pray that believers will have the opportunity to clearly share the good news with the lost here, so that all people can be invited to trust in Jesus and become children of God.

Bakumpai Across Countries (ROP3 - 100828) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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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