The Bengali of United States

The Bengali of United States, numbering approximately 377,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic community originating from and culturally affiliated with the Bengal region of South Asia. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Bengali is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: United States
People Cluster: Bengali
Primary Language(s): Bengali (ben)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 377,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG043534
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Bengali 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: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

65%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bengali
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Bengali Speakers

Media Resources in Bengali:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

5 films

Bible Resources in Bengali:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Common Language Version✓✓✓
Mussolmani✓✓
Re-edit Bangla Version✓✓

3 entries

Or check out the Bengali bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Bengali 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 Bengali:
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 Bengali of United States

All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.
readRomans 3:12

Pray that those who are enslaved to sin will admit their need for a Savior, acknowledging that no one is righteous.

The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
readPsalm 146:9

Pray for God to watch over people, wherever they are, and cause them to meet believers who will share the gospel with them clearly and lovingly.

But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit.
readTitus 3:4-5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and might struggle with temptation to trust in their own works, they will remember that it is only because of God's mercy that they have been saved.

Finally, brothers, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored, as happened among you, and that we may be delivered from wicked and evil men. For not all have faith. But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.
read2 Thessalonians 3:1-3

Pray that the Word of God will spread throughout this people group and be honored. Ask God to establish His people and guard them from the evil one, testifying to this whole people group of His great faithfulness.

Bengali Across Countries (ROP3 - 101254) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

16 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
BengaliBengaliKenya1,700Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliGermany15,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliSri Lanka25,500Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliThailand35,500Unengaged and UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliCanada81,500Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliItaly134,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliSingapore157,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliOman268,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliMyanmar347,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliUnited States377,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliPakistan393,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliMalaysia500,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliSaudi Arabia1,085,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliUnited Kingdom1,175,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliUnited Arab Emirates1,360,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam
BengaliBengaliIndia4,590,000Engaged yet UnreachedBengaliSunni Islam

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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