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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.

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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

The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer.
readPsalm 6:9

Pray that lost people will hear the gospel and place their faith in Christ, knowing that He hears their plea and accepts their prayer.

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
readLuke 5:27-28

Prat that God will prepare many hearts to meet Him when He says, “Follow Me!” and that they will respond in faith, leaving everything behind to follow Him.

For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
readRomans 10:13

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and sometimes have doubts, God will help them remember and trust the power of Jesus to save them from their sins.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
readEphesians 6:12

Ask God to give those He sends to cross cultures the discernment they need to recognize the spiritual battle they are fighting. Pray God will protect their faith as they abide in Him.

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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