The Tibetans of India

The Tibetans of India, numbering approximately 153,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an indigenous community of Tibeto-Burman people inhabiting the Trans-Himalaya region that divides India and Nepal from Tibet. They mostly adhere to Tibetan Buddhism and Tibetan is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Tibetan

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Tibetan Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Tibetan
Primary Language(s): Tibetan (bod)
Primary Religion(s): Tibetan Buddhism
Population: 153,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG041578
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Tibetans of India

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: Tibetan Buddhism
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

100%
%
Tibetan Buddhism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tibetan
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

100%
%
Tibetan, Central Speakers

Media Resources in Tibetan:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Tibetan:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2016-2021 New Tibetan Bible Committee✓✓✓
Central Tibetan Bible✓✓✓

2 entries

Or check out the Tibetan bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Tibetans 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 Tibetans:
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 Tibetans of India

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
readPsalm 9:9-10

Pray that God will help those who are oppressed and without hope to hear the good news of Jesus and trust in Him, for He has never forsaken those who seek Him.

But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.
readMark 4:20

Pray that those who have never encountered the gospel will have the opportunity to receive it, and that it will fall on good soil and bear much fruit.

Therefore, as you received Christ Jesus the Lord, so walk in him, rooted and built up in him and established in the faith, just as you were taught, abounding in thanksgiving.
readColossians 2:6-7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be rooted and built up in Him, abounding in thanksgiving for the grace and mercy He has shown them.

And the King will answer them, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."
readMatthew 25:40

Ask God to raise up and send believers who will serve "the least of these" with compassion and energy because they know that in serving those in need, they are serving Christ.

Tibetan, Central Across Countries (ROP3 - 110033) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

8 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Central TibetansCentral TibetansChina1,200,000Engaged yet UnreachedTibetanTibetan Buddhism
TibetansTibetansNepal161,000Engaged yet UnreachedTibetanTibetan Buddhism
TibetansTibetansIndia153,000Engaged yet UnreachedTibetanTibetan Buddhism
TibetansTibetansUnited States12,000Engaged yet UnreachedTibetanTibetan Buddhism
TibetansTibetansBhutan5,900Unengaged and UnreachedTibetanTibetan Buddhism
TibetansTibetansCanada5,300Unengaged and UnreachedTibetanTibetan Buddhism
TibetansTibetansSweden1,000Unengaged and UnreachedTibetanTibetan Buddhism
TibetansTibetansTaiwan400Unengaged and UnreachedTibetanTibetan 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