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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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The Northern Pumi of China

The Northern Pumi of China, numbering approximately 53,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a regional ethnolinguistic branch of the Pumi people of southwest China, distinguished primarily by language, geography, and historical identity, especially across the Sichuan–Yunnan borderlands. They mostly adhere to Tibetan Buddhism and Northern Pumi is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Tibetan Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Tibetan
Primary Language(s): Northern Pumi (pmi)
Primary Religion(s): Tibetan Buddhism
Population: 53,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG006712
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Pray for the Northern Pumi 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: Tibetan Buddhism
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

99%
%
Tibetan Buddhism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Northern Pumi
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

100%
%
Pumi, Northern Speakers

Media Resources in Northern Pumi:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Northern Pumi:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Northern Pumi bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Northern Pumi 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 Northern Pumi:
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 Northern Pumi of China

That they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.
readActs 17:27

Pray that those who don't yet know Christ will search diligently for God and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.

And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
readZechariah 2:11

Pray that many will take refuge in the Lord and be His people who share the good news of salvation in Jesus with others.

So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
read1 Corinthians 3:7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be unified in making disciples and be used by God to further His kingdom near and far.

And he said to them, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few. Therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
readLuke 10:2

Ask God to send out laborers into His harvest field, raising up believers from around the world to go and proclaim the kingdom of God with those who need to hear it.

Chrame Across Countries (ROP3 - 102197) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress Index ▲LanguageReligion
Northern PumiPG006712Northern PumiChina53,500Engaged yet UnreachedNorthern PumiTibetan Buddhism

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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