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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Kirati Rai of Bhutan

The Kirati Rai of Bhutan, numbering approximately 19,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a people of Bhutan They are an Indigenous people, with Rai as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the South Himalayan people cluster of the Himalayan Peoples. Their primary religion is Kirati. They primarily speak Limbu.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Himalayan Peoples
Country: Bhutan
People Cluster: South Himalayan
Primary Language(s): Limbu (lif)
Primary Religion(s): Kirati
Population: 19,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG001228

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Pray for the Kirati Rai of Bhutan

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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Kirati
Religious Affiliation: Other

100%
%
Kirati Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Limbu
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

75%
%
Limbu Speakers

Media Resources in Limbu:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Limbu:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
ILLA and WBT✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Limbu bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Kirati Rai 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 Kirati Rai:
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 Kirati Rai of Bhutan

These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self- made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
readColossians 2:23

Pray for those without Christ, that they will see the emptiness of human traditions and turn to the truth and grace found in Jesus.

Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
readMatthew 16:16

Pray that many will see clearly that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God, and put their trust in Him.

In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?
readPsalm 56:10-11

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will trust in the Lord's promises, knowing that He will uphold them with His righteous right hand.

There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.
readMark 7:15

Pray for Christians to take any opportunity to share the hope of Jesus with lost people here, praying they will be wise like Jesus as they share the truth about what can defile people and what can make them clean.

Rai, Kirati Across Countries (ROP3 - 116136) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress Index ▼LanguageReligion
Kirati RaiPG001228Kirati RaiBhutan19,000Engaged yet UnreachedLimbuKirati

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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