The Portuguese of United States

The Portuguese of United States, numbering approximately 863,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are 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 mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Portuguese is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: United States
People Cluster: Portuguese, European
Primary Language(s): Portuguese (por)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 863,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG046462
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Pray for the Portuguese of United States

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

91%
%
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: No longer Unreached

The Portuguese 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 Portuguese:
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 Portuguese of United States

And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."
readLuke 1:46-47

Pray that those who are lost will recognize their need for a Savior and joyfully embrace the mercy that God offers.

More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
readRomans 5:11

Pray for the gospel to advance and for more people to be brought into God's family through the reconciliation Jesus offers them.

For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.
readActs 17:23

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have a deep desire to know God more fully and to make Him known in creative ways to others who are still searching for truth.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
readJames 5:16

Pray that believers whom God sends will confess their sins, pray for one another, and live in unity. Ask that they will model healthy Christian relationships for this people group.

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
PortuguesePortugueseZimbabwe16,000Engaged 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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