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

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
read1 John 1:9

Pray that God, who is faithful and just, will open the eyes of those who are lost and draw them to confess their sins and trust in Him to grant forgiveness.

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
readIsaiah 43:19

Pray that the lost will see the new thing God can do in their lives and trust in His plan and purpose for them.

Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.
readColossians 4:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be wise in the way they walk with the lost and manage their time and other resources in a way that honors God.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.
readHebrews 4:12

Pray that God will make His living and active Word available to everyone in this people group so that many will respond to the gospel. Ask Him to provide Jesus-followers to walk with new believers as they grow in Him.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

8 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▼Religion
NorwegiansNorwegiansDenmark17,500Unengaged and UnreachedNorwegianUnaffiliated
NorwegiansNorwegiansIceland1,400No Longer UnreachedNorwegianUnaffiliated
NorwegiansNorwegiansNorway5,525,000No Longer UnreachedNorwegianUnaffiliated
NorwegiansNorwegiansSvalbard1,700Unengaged and UnreachedNorwegianProtestantism
NorwegiansNorwegiansSweden15,500Unengaged and UnreachedNorwegianUnaffiliated
NorwegiansNorwegiansEcuador18,500No Longer UnreachedNorwegianProtestantism
NorwegiansNorwegiansCanada8,900No Longer UnreachedNorwegianUnaffiliated
NorwegiansNorwegiansUnited States45,000No 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.

Scroll to Top