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
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Jawa Banten of Indonesia

The Jawa Banten of Indonesia, numbering approximately 651,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an Austronesian people descended from ancestors who reached Java between 1500 and 1000 BC, part of the historically fervent Muslim community of the Banten region converted through Islamic trade in the sixteenth century They are an Indigenous people, with Java / Jawa as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Jawa people cluster of the Malay Peoples. Their primary religion is Sunni Islam. They primarily speak Javanese.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Jawa
Primary Language(s): Javanese (jav)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 651,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG047521
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Pray for the Jawa Banten 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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

100%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Javanese
Language Family: Austronesian

75%
%
Javanese Speakers

Media Resources in Javanese:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
The SaviorView Film

3 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Javanese:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
New Revised Javanese (formal) Version, 2006✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Javanese bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Jawa Banten 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 Jawa Banten:
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 Jawa Banten of Indonesia

For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?
readPsalm 18:31

As people look to their own efforts for hope, pray they will have the opportunity to learn and believe in the Lord, who is the only Rock worthy of their faith.

Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.
readPsalm 119:97

Pray that the lost will have access to God's Word in their language and treasure it deeply, meditating on God's promises and precepts.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
readPsalm 119:105

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will meditate daily on the Word of God so that, through it, they might have wisdom for the big and small decisions they face every day.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
readJohn 3:16

Pray that God will send and sustain believers to cross cultures and share the gospel with the lost. Ask that He will give them His heart for the lost and that many will believe in Him and not perish but have eternal life.

Java Banten Across Countries (ROP3 - 101015) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Jawa BantenPG047521Jawa BantenIndonesia651,000Engaged yet UnreachedJavaneseSunni 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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