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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
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The Southeastern Awu of China

The Southeastern Awu of China, numbering approximately 42,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a distinct Yi subgroup living in southeastern Yunnan Province, China. Although officially classified as Yi (彝族) by the Chinese government, they are ethnolinguistically distinct from many neighboring Yi groups and from the Northern Awu. They mostly adhere to Chinese Folk Religion and Awu is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Tibetan Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Other Tibeto-Burmese
Primary Language(s): Awu (yiu)
Primary Religion(s): Chinese Folk Religion
Population: 42,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG006669
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Pray for the Southeastern Awu of China

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: Chinese Folk Religion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

93%
%
Chinese Folk Religion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Awu
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

70%
%
Awu Speakers

Media Resources in Awu:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Awu:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Awu bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Southeastern Awu 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 Southeastern Awu:
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 Southeastern Awu of China

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
readRomans 5:7-8

Pray for the many who don't yet understand the hope of the gospel, and pray that God will reveal to them that while they were in darkness, Christ died for them.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
read2 Peter 3:9

Pray that the lost will not perish but come to repentance and that God's patience and long-suffering will lead them to salvation.

Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered.
readPsalm 105:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will rejoice as they remember His wonders, miracles, and perfect judgements.

He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name’s sake.
readPsalm 23:3

Pray for believers to go and share the gospel with others here. Ask that God will restore their souls and lead them in paths of righteousness for His name's sake.

Awu, Southeastern Across Countries (ROP3 - 113998) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Southeastern AwuPG006669Southeastern AwuChina42,000Engaged yet UnreachedAwuChinese Folk Religion

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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