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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Moken of Myanmar

The Moken of Myanmar, numbering approximately 4,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an Indigenous Austronesian sea‑nomadic people who traditionally live throughout the Mergui Archipelago (Myanmar) and the Andaman Sea waters of Thailand Sea Nomads, Chao Lay, Salone They are an Indigenous people, with Moken as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Malay people cluster of the Malay Peoples. Their primary religion is Animism. They primarily speak Moken.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Myanmar
People Cluster: Malay
Primary Language(s): Moken (mwt)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 4,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG009486
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Pray for the Moken 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!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

80%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Moken
Language Family: Austronesian

73%
%
Moken Speakers

Media Resources in Moken:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Moken:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Moken bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Moken 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 Moken:
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 Moken of Myanmar

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.
readEphesians 2:8-9

Pray that the lost among them will receive the gift of salvation by grace through faith, not by works, and be created for good works.

Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, "the kingdom of God has come near to you."
readLuke 10:8-9

Pray that the lost will receive messengers of the gospel with joy, turn from their sins, and be healed.

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
readActs 4:31

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be filled with the Holy Spirit and speak God's Word with boldness, sharing the love of Jesus with those around them.

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.

Moken Across Countries (ROP3 - 106723) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
MokenPG009486MokenMyanmar4,000Engaged yet UnreachedMokenAnimism
MokenPG010892MokenThailand2,300Engaged yet UnreachedMokenAnimism

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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