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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Northern Dong of China

The Northern Dong of China, numbering approximately 1,530,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a major subgroup of the Dong (Kam) people, concentrated in the border regions of Guizhou, Hunan, and Hubei provinces. While officially classified with the Southern Dong as one Dong nationality, the Northern Dong are linguistically and culturally distinct. They are an Indigenous people in the Tai people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Dong, Northern and their primary religion is Chinese Folk Religion.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Northern Dong

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Tai
Primary Language(s): Dong, Northern (doc)
Primary Religion(s): Chinese Folk Religion
Population: 1,530,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG006726
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Pray for the Northern Dong of China

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Chinese Folk Religion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

91%
%
Chinese Folk Religion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Dong, Northern
Language Family: Tai-Kadai

70%
%
Dong, Northern Speakers

Media Resources in Dong, Northern:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Dong, Northern:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Dong, Northern bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Northern Dong:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Northern Dong 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 Northern Dong:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Northern Dong 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 Northern Dong:
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 Northern Dong of China

And when you pray, do not heap up empty phrases as the Gentiles do, for they think that they will be heard for their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
readMatthew 6:7-8

Pray that those who don't have a relationship with their Creator will come to know a God who hears their every need, freeing them from empty rituals and drawing them into a real, trusting relationship with Him.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
readMatthew 11:28-29

Please pray for them to lift their eyes to Jesus and find rest for their souls, lasting peace, and hope in Him.

Sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth.
readJohn 17:17

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will experience freedom from sin as God sanctifies them in the truth of His Word.

And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
readMark 5:20

Pray that God will bring people who appear beyond hope to faith in Jesus and that they will then go and tell others of the marvelous things He has done.

Dong, Northern Across Countries (ROP3 - 114042) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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