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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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The Athpare Rai of Nepal

The Athpare Rai of Nepal, numbering approximately 83,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Indigenous Kiranti community centered in the hills around Dhankuta in eastern Nepal, with traditions linking their origins to their present homeland. They mostly adhere to Hinduism and Dungmali is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Athpare Rai

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Himalayan Peoples
Country: Nepal
People Cluster: South Himalayan
Primary Language(s): Dungmali (raa)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 83,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG006167
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Pray for the Athpare Rai of Nepal

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: Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

80%
%
Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Dungmali
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

71%
%
Dungmali Speakers

Media Resources in Dungmali:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Dungmali:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Dungmali bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Athpare 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 Athpare 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 Athpare Rai of Nepal

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
readIsaiah 40:8

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will be freed from the emptiness of fading hopes and find lasting life and truth in the unchanging Word of God.

How then will they call on him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?
readRomans 10:14

Pray that the gospel will advance among those who don’t know the good news of salvation in Jesus so that they might believe and trust in Jesus.

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
readColossians 4:6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, their speech will always be gracious and ready to answer for the hope which is within them.

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

Praise the God who is able to make a way forward, even when it seems impossible. Ask Him to do a new thing among this people group specifically and among the nations, raising up believers to go and share the gospel with individuals and places where it has not flourished before.

Rai, Athpare Across Countries (ROP3 - 100597) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▼
Athpare RaiPG006167Athpare RaiNepal83,000Engaged yet UnreachedDungmaliHinduism

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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