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The Sonsorol of Palau

The Sonsorol of Palau, numbering approximately 900 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Chuukic-speaking Micronesian people of Palau's remote Sonsorol Islands, descended by tradition from canoe voyagers who drifted from Ulithi Atoll, ethnically and linguistically distinct from mainland Palauans despite shared statehood. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Palauan is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Palau
People Cluster: Micronesian
Primary Language(s): Palauan (pau)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 900
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG050219
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Pray for the Sonsorol of Palau

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: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

50%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Palauan
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Palauan Speakers

Media Resources in Palauan:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Palauan:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
United Bible Societies✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Palauan bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Sonsorol 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 Sonsorol:
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 Sonsorol of Palau

Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life"
readJohn 4:13-14

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will drink of the living water that only Christ can provide and never thirst again.

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
readMatthew 24:14

Pray that the gospel of God's kingdom will reach more people and that they will respond in faith, becoming disciples of Jesus Christ.

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.
readHebrews 12:1-2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember the testimony of those who went before them, resist sin, and run with perseverance the race set before them, fixing their eyes on Jesus.

For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
read2 Corinthians 1:5

When any who might believe suffer for the sake of the gospel, ask God to deepen their understanding of His grace so that they may share it freely with those who have not received it.

Sonsorol Across Countries (ROP3 - 109419) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
SonsorolPG050219SonsorolPalau900No Longer UnreachedPalauanRoman 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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