The Portuguese of Belgium

The Portuguese of Belgium, numbering approximately 56,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a Southwestern European people native to Portugal whose culture has been shaped by Atlantic maritime traditions, the Iberian environment, Roman and medieval influences, Roman Catholic heritage, and centuries of overseas exploration and global exchange They are an Diaspora people, with Portuguese as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Portuguese, European people cluster of the Eurasian Peoples. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Portuguese is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 3 Flash: Portuguese

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: Belgium
People Cluster: Portuguese, European
Primary Language(s): Portuguese (por)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 56,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG000067
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Pray for the Portuguese of Belgium

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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

93%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Portuguese
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Portuguese Speakers

Media Resources in Portuguese:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

5 films

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Portuguese 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 Portuguese:
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 Portuguese of Belgium

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
readMatthew 28:16-20

Pray that those who don't yet know Him will encounter the risen Savior and be transformed by the power of His resurrection, becoming disciples who make disciples.

Let the children come to me; do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God.
readMark 10:14b

Praise Jesus for the way He loves children, asking that many will learn the truth about Him and come to Him unhindered.

For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
read1 Peter 2:25

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will proclaim the good news and the lost will recognize their need for the Shepherd and turn to Jesus Christ in faith.

Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.”
readPsalm 96:10

Pray for God to put in the hearts of believers to go to the lost and testify about the Lord who reigns.

Portuguese Across Countries (ROP3 - 108129) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

20 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
PortuguesePortuguesePortugal9,525,000Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseSouth Africa1,090,000Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseFrance984,000No Longer UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseUnited States863,000No Longer UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseCanada309,000No Longer UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseSwitzerland269,000Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseVenezuela240,000No Longer UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseUnited Kingdom177,000Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseGermany143,000Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseLuxembourg103,000Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseSpain93,500Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseBelgium56,500Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseMozambique28,500Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseMalawi21,500Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseArgentina18,000No Longer UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseZimbabwe15,500Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseAndorra11,500Unengaged and UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseMacao10,500No Longer UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseGuinea-Bissau6,600Unengaged and UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseZambia3,900Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman 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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