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The Kolai of Pakistan

The Kolai of Pakistan, numbering approximately 553,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a subgroup of the Kohistani, distinguished by their location in the Kolai-Palas region and their use of Kohistani Shina. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Kohistani Shina is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: Pakistan
People Cluster: Kashmiri
Primary Language(s): Kohistani Shina (plk)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 553,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG006372

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Pray for the Kolai of Pakistan

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: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

98%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kohistani Shina
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Shina, Kohistani Speakers

Media Resources in Kohistani Shina:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Kohistani Shina:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Kohistani Shina bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Kolai 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 Kolai:
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 Kolai of Pakistan

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
readRomans 1:20

As God's creation declares His glory, pray that multitudes who don't know Him will see the works of His hands and desire to know more about the Creator.

Be exalted, O God, above the heavens! Let your glory be over all the earth!
readPsalm 57:11

Pray that the lost will learn about God's great love and faithfulness so that they might trust in Christ for their salvation.

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples."
readJohn 8:31

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will abide in Christ daily, depending on Him for every need.

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.
read2 Corinthians 5:20

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will be His ambassadors, faithfully imploring people on Christ's behalf to be reconciled to God through Jesus.

Kolai Across Countries (ROP3 - 105116) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
KolaiPG006372KolaiPakistan553,000Engaged yet UnreachedKohistani ShinaSunni Islam

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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