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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

"...And some fell into good soil and grew and yielded a hundredfold." As he said these things, he called out, "He who has ears to hear, let him hear."
readLuke 8:8

Pray that the seeds of truth will take root in the hearts of those who are far from Jesus and that He will lead them from darkness to light.

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
readRomans 2:4

Pray that, in God's kindness and according to His nature, He will lead many to repentance.

Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!
readPsalm 100:3-4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be in awe of the Lord God, their Creator, and will give Him thanksgiving and praise.

He came as a witness, to bear witness about the light, that all might believe through him.
readJohn 1:7

Pray that God will raise up witnesses to testify about Jesus so that all might believe, knowing that He is light and in Him there is no darkness at all.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountry ▲PopulationStrategic 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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