The Norwegians of Svalbard

The Norwegians of Svalbard, numbering approximately 1,700 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a North Germanic people indigenous to Norway whose culture has been shaped by a rugged maritime and mountainous environment, a long history of farming and fishing, and strong traditions of local autonomy and social cooperation. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Norwegian is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: Svalbard
People Cluster: Scandinavian
Primary Language(s): Norwegian (nor)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 1,700
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG000541
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Norwegians of Svalbard

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: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Norwegian
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Norwegian Speakers

Media Resources in Norwegian:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Norwegian:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1930 Det Norsk Bibelselskap✓
Bibelen 2011 bokmål✓
Norsk Bibel AS 2016✓

3 entries

Or check out the Norwegian bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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 Norwegians:
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 Norwegians of Svalbard

I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other.
readIsaiah 45:5-6

Pray that the lost among them will be delivered from the confusion of false beliefs and come to know the one true God who alone brings light and purpose to their lives.

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.
readPsalm 67:4

Pray that God will use ways from in-person witnesses to digital gospel resources to bring the joy of His salvation to everyone so that they can be glad in Him and sing for joy.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
readEphesians 6:10-11

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will grow strong in His power, putting on the full armor of God, which will enable them to stand against the devil’s lies.

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
readRomans 12:4-5

Ask God to send believers to people in other cultures and to help them use their gifts in harmony with others so that the body of Christ may be built up.

Norwegian Across Countries (ROP3 - 107478) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

8 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
NorwegiansNorwegiansIceland1,400No Longer UnreachedNorwegianUnaffiliated
NorwegiansNorwegiansSvalbard1,700Unengaged and UnreachedNorwegianProtestantism
NorwegiansNorwegiansCanada8,900No Longer UnreachedNorwegianUnaffiliated
NorwegiansNorwegiansSweden15,500Unengaged and UnreachedNorwegianUnaffiliated
NorwegiansNorwegiansDenmark17,500Unengaged and UnreachedNorwegianUnaffiliated
NorwegiansNorwegiansEcuador18,500No Longer UnreachedNorwegianProtestantism
NorwegiansNorwegiansUnited States45,000No Longer UnreachedNorwegianUnaffiliated
NorwegiansNorwegiansNorway5,525,000No Longer UnreachedNorwegianUnaffiliated

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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