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The Pukapukan of French Polynesia

The Pukapukan of French Polynesia, numbering approximately 1,800 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic people indigenous to Pukapuka, a coral atoll in the northern group of the Cook Islands. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Pukapuka is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Pukapukan

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: French Polynesia
People Cluster: Polynesian
Primary Language(s): Pukapuka (pkp)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 1,800
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG008251

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Pray for the Pukapukan of French Polynesia

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: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Pukapuka
Language Family: Austronesian

75%
%
Pukapuka Speakers

Media Resources in Pukapuka:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Pukapuka:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Pukapuka bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Pukapukan 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 Pukapukan:
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 Pukapukan of French Polynesia

Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
readProverbs 30:5

Pray that those who don't yet know God will trust the flawless Word of God and seek refuge in Him, finding hope and salvation instead of remaining in spiritual darkness.

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
readActs 17:24-25

Pray that the good news will reach everyone in this people group and that many will come to know and serve the one true God who made the world and everything in it and lives today.

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.
readPhilippians 2:5-7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will imitate His humility in all they do.

And Jesus answered him, “Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."
readMatthew 16:17

Pray that God who is in heaven will place believers in the lives of people who need to encounter the gospel and that He will reveal to them the truth of what they hear.

Bukabukan Across Countries (ROP3 - 101712) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
PukapukanPG008251PukapukanFrench Polynesia1,800No Longer UnreachedPukapukaProtestantism
BukabukanPG008209BukabukanCook Islands1,000No Longer UnreachedPukapukaProtestantism
BukabukanPG009614BukabukanNew Zealand300No Longer UnreachedPukapukaProtestantism

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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