Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portuguese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Español | Tagalog / Filipino
Be sure to use the data import function in your favorite app for working with data.
If you'd like to help improve these translations, Contact Us.

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

Print Profile
Submit Updates

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.

Pray Now!
Download Prayer Guide

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

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Norwegian:

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

3 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Norwegian bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

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

For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
readPsalm 1:6

As many look for hope in worldly pleasures, pray they will hear and accept salvation through Christ, turn from destruction, and experience joy in the way of righteousness.

For from the rising of the sun to its setting my name will be great among the nations, and in every place incense will be offered to my name, and a pure offering. For my name will be great among the nations, says the LORD of hosts.
readMalachi 1:11

Pray that they will worship God in spirit and truth, offering Him the sacrifices of praise and thanksgiving that He desires.

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.
readMatthew 18:20

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be encouraged as they remember that Jesus is with them when they gather in His name.

Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.”
readPsalm 96:10

Pray for God to put in the hearts of believers to go to the lost and testify about the Lord who reigns.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

8 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
NorwegiansPG043575NorwegiansUnited States45,000No Longer UnreachedNorwegianUnaffiliated
NorwegiansPG043448NorwegiansCanada8,900No Longer UnreachedNorwegianUnaffiliated
NorwegiansPG017471NorwegiansEcuador18,500No Longer UnreachedNorwegianProtestantism
NorwegiansPG000562NorwegiansSweden15,500Unengaged and UnreachedNorwegianUnaffiliated
NorwegiansPG000541NorwegiansSvalbard1,700Unengaged and UnreachedNorwegianProtestantism
NorwegiansPG000453NorwegiansNorway5,525,000No Longer UnreachedNorwegianUnaffiliated
NorwegiansPG000292NorwegiansIceland1,400No Longer UnreachedNorwegianUnaffiliated
NorwegiansPG000090NorwegiansDenmark17,500Unengaged and 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