The Atayal of Taiwan

The Atayal of Taiwan, numbering approximately 93,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are the second-largest indigenous people of Taiwan, traditionally marking male headhunting prowess and female weaving skill with facial tattoos, a practice suppressed under Japanese colonial rule. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Atayal is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: East Asian Peoples
Country: Taiwan
People Cluster: Taiwan Indigenous
Primary Language(s): Atayal (tay)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 93,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG007541
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Atayal of Taiwan

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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

32%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Atayal
Language Family: Austronesian

87%
%
Atayal Speakers

Media Resources in Atayal:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Atayal:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Atayal bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Atayal 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 Atayal:
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 Atayal of Taiwan

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.

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
readRomans 9:16

Pray that the merciful God who is at work in people's hearts will advance His gospel among them.

Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.
readColossians 3:2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will set their minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth, as they look to Christ for guidance and strength.

Go on up to a high mountain, O Zion, herald of good news; lift up your voice with strength, O Jerusalem, herald of good news; lift it up, fear not; say to the cities of Judah, "Behold your God!"
readIsaiah 40:9

Pray for God to send and sustain believers to go and herald the good news to the lost here.

Atayal Across Countries (ROP3 - 109910) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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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