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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Cocos Malays of Cocos (Keeling) Islands

The Cocos Malays of Cocos (Keeling) Islands, numbering approximately 550 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Malay community indigenous to the Cocos (Keeling) Islands of the eastern Indian Ocean. They speak Cocos Malay and English, practice predominantly Sunni Islam, and trace their heritage to settlers from across the Malay Archipelago. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Cocos Islands Malay is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Cocos (Keeling) Islands
People Cluster: Malay
Primary Language(s): Cocos Islands Malay (coa)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 550
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG008206
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Pray for the Cocos Malays of Cocos (Keeling) Islands

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

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Cocos Islands Malay
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Malay, Cocos Islands Speakers

Media Resources in Cocos Islands Malay:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Cocos Islands Malay:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Cocos Islands Malay bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

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): Pioneer Unreached People Group, (LPI: 1), 0.1% or Greater but Less than 0.5% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent 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 Cocos Malays:
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

Pray specifically for the Cocos Malays of Cocos (Keeling) Islands

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.

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.’ In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
readJob 1:20-22

Pray that those who mourn will worship God in the midst of their suffering and loss, recognizing He is the source of all good things and that He is worthy of their praise and trust.

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.
readIsaiah 49:13

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and suffer for their faith, they will sing for joy and be glad in their hearts because the Lord has compassion on them.

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.

Malay, Cocos Islands Across Countries (ROP3 - 102252) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Cocos MalaysPG008206Cocos MalaysCocos (Keeling) Islands550Unengaged and UnreachedCocos Islands MalaySunni Islam
Cocos MalaysPG007858Cocos MalaysChristmas Island250No Longer UnreachedCocos Islands MalaySunni 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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