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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
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Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
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Spanish - Español | Tagalog / Filipino
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The Gelao of China

The Gelao of China, numbering approximately 2,200 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an officially recognized ethnic minority concentrated in Guizhou, with smaller communities in Guangxi, Yunnan, and Sichuan, whose ancestral Gelao language belongs to Kra-Dai. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and White Gelao is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Gelao

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: China
People Cluster: Miao / Hmong
Primary Language(s): White Gelao (giw)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 2,200
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG006741
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Pray for the Gelao 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: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

91%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: White Gelao
Language Family: Tai-Kadai

1%
%
Duoluo Speakers

Media Resources in White Gelao:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in White Gelao:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the White Gelao bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Gelao:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Pray specifically for the Gelao of China

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
readRomans 3:23

Pray that those who live in fear, guilt and discontentment because of sin will see their need for change, hear, and receive the good news of freedom from sin through Christ.

Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ.
readRomans 5:1

Pray that the gospel will advance and that many who are far from God will receive the good news of salvation with joy and have peace with God through faith in His Son Jesus Christ.

“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
readLamentations 3:24

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and walk through trials, they will be satisfied with the Lord as their portion and will place all their hope in Him.

Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.”
readPsalm 96:10

Pray for God to put in the hearts of believers to go to the lost and testify about the Lord who reigns.

Gelao Across Countries (ROP3 - 103287) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountry ▲PopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
GelaoPG006741GelaoChina2,200Unengaged and UnreachedWhite GelaoEthnoreligion

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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