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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Sri Lankan Tamil of Sri Lanka

The Sri Lankan Tamil of Sri Lanka, numbering approximately 2,630,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are descendants of the Jaffna Kingdom that maintained autonomy on the Jaffna Peninsula from the fourteenth century through Portuguese, Dutch, and British colonial rule, tracing a Tamil presence on the island back to at least the second century BCE. They mostly adhere to Hinduism and Tamil is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Sri Lankan Tamil

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: Sri Lanka
People Cluster: Tamil
Primary Language(s): Tamil (tam)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 2,630,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG006432
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Pray for the Sri Lankan Tamil of Sri Lanka

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!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

69%
%
Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tamil
Language Family: Dravidian

100%
%
Tamil Speakers

Media Resources in Tamil:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

3 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Tamil:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Contemporary Version✓
Contemporary Version - LUMO Christmas Film✓
Contemporary Version - LUMO Easter Film✓
Easy-to-Read Version✓✓
Indian Revised Version✓✓
Indian Revised Version✓

6 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tamil bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Sri Lankan Tamil are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Sri Lankan Tamil:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Sri Lankan Tamil of Sri Lanka

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.
readJohn 11:25

Pray for the many who have never heard about or understood the importance of what Jesus did for them, asking God to make a way for them to hear that the perfect Son of Man suffered, died, and rose again so that they might be saved.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns."
readIsaiah 52:7

Pray that those who don't know the good news of peace and salvation through Jesus Christ will have an opportunity to receive it. Pray that it will bring hope and healing to their souls.

But you said, "I will surely do you good, and make your offspring as the sand of the sea, which cannot be numbered for multitude."
readGenesis 32:12

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will experience God's presence and protection even in difficult circumstances, knowing that He will make them fruitful.

And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”
readLuke 18:29-30

Pray that God will raise up people to go and share the gospel and help them trust His promise that anyone who has left those they treasure for the sake of the kingdom of God will receive many times more in this life and in the life to come.

Tamil Hindu Across Countries (ROP3 - 113732) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

14 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▲
TamilPG008196TamilCambodia1,800No Longer UnreachedTamilFolk Hinduism
TamilPG009527TamilMyanmar297,000Engaged yet UnreachedTamilFolk Hinduism
TamilPG000442TamilNetherlands7,900Engaged yet UnreachedTamilHinduism
Sri Lankan TamilPG000621Sri Lankan TamilUnited Kingdom74,500No Longer UnreachedTamilHinduism
Sri Lankan TamilPG006432Sri Lankan TamilSri Lanka2,630,000No Longer UnreachedTamilHinduism
TamilPG009351TamilMalaysia2,620,000No Longer UnreachedTamilHinduism
TamilPG010723TamilSingapore244,000Engaged yet UnreachedTamilHinduism
Tamil HinduPG010925Tamil HinduThailand35,000No Longer UnreachedTamilHinduism
TamilPG015474TamilReunion189,000Engaged yet UnreachedRéunion Creole FrenchHinduism
TamilPG015483TamilSeychelles400Engaged yet UnreachedTamilHinduism
TamilPG042414TamilGermany67,000Engaged yet UnreachedTamilHinduism
TamilPG042483TamilFrance126,000Engaged yet UnreachedTamilHinduism
TamilPG043485TamilCanada163,000No Longer UnreachedTamilHinduism
TamilPG047226TamilUnited States339,000Engaged yet UnreachedTamilHinduism

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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