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The Thao of Taiwan

The Thao of Taiwan, numbering approximately 850 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a people whose ancestors followed a legendary white deer from the Jianan Plain to Sun Moon Lake, later relocated to Ita Thao village after a hydroelectric dam flooded their sacred Lalu Island, recognized in 2001 as Taiwan's tenth indigenous group. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Min Nan Chinese is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: East Asian Peoples
Country: Taiwan
People Cluster: Taiwan Indigenous
Primary Language(s): Min Nan Chinese (nan)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 850
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG007542
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Pray for the Thao 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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Min Nan Chinese
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

100%
%
Chinese, Min Nan Speakers

Media Resources in Min Nan Chinese:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

3 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Min Nan Chinese:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Wycliffe Malaysia✓✓
Today's Taiwanese Version✓✓✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Min Nan Chinese bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Thao 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 Thao:
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 Thao of Taiwan

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."
readJohn 16:33

Pray that those who don't have peace with God will find peace in Christ, even amid the troubles of this world.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
readPsalm 19:1-2

Pray that the lost will see the glory of God revealed in the heavens, that they will hear the good news, and that their hearts will be softened to respond to God’s call, turning to Him in repentance and faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.

For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.
read2 Thessalonians 3:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will persevere according to God's command, walk in faith, and be strong so that they can resist the evil one’s deception.

At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ...that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.
readColossians 4:3-4

Ask God to open doors for believers to share the gospel and help them communicate it clearly so that more people will understand the mystery of Christ and turn to follow Him.

Thao Across Countries (ROP3 - 110007) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▼CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
ThaoPG007542ThaoTaiwan850No Longer UnreachedMin Nan ChineseProtestantism

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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