Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
Be sure to use the data import function in your favorite app for working with data.
If you'd like to help improve these translations, Contact Us.

PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Golden Palaung of Myanmar

The Golden Palaung of Myanmar, numbering approximately 215,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are described as a distinct subgroup of the Palaung (Ta’ang) people, an Indigenous Austroasiatic (Mon‑Khmer) ethnic group predominantly in northern Shan State, Myanmar. They are called "Golden" because of the gold-colored style of women's traditional dress and ornaments Shwe Palaung They are an Indigenous people, with Palaung as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Mon-Khmer people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Theravada Buddhism. They primarily speak Shwe Palaung.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3 Flash: Golden Palaung

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Myanmar
People Cluster: Mon-Khmer
Primary Language(s): Shwe Palaung (pll)
Primary Religion(s): Theravada Buddhism
Population: 215,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG009429
View on Joshua Project

Print Profile
Submit Updates

Pray for the Golden Palaung of Myanmar

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!
Download Prayer Guide

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Theravada Buddhism
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

90%
%
Theravada Buddhism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Shwe Palaung
Language Family: Austroasiatic

100%
%
Palaung, Shwe Speakers

Media Resources in Shwe Palaung:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Shwe Palaung:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Shwe Palaung 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): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% 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 Golden Palaung:
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 Golden Palaung of Myanmar

But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
readIsaiah 59:2

Pray that those who are separated from God will turn to Him in humility and repentance, seeking His forgiveness and the restoration of a right relationship with their Heavenly Father.

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.

Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
readPsalm 127:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will build their homes in the Lord and raise their children to know and honor Him.

I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessing.
read1 Corinthians 9:23

Ask God to give believers a deep desire to share the gospel with those who don't know the truth about God's redemption plan, and to provide them with opportunities to do so cross-culturally.

Palaung, Golden Across Countries (ROP3 - 103423) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Golden PalaungPG009429Golden PalaungMyanmar215,000Unengaged and UnreachedShwe PalaungTheravada Buddhism
Shwe DeangPG006720Shwe DeangChina8,100Unengaged and UnreachedShwe PalaungMahayana Buddhism

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.

Scroll to Top