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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.

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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

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.
readMark 10:15

Pray for those who might be trapped in pride, that God will humble them and give them a childlike faith and complete dependence on Him through faith in Christ.

The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
readPsalm 146:9

Pray for God to watch over people, wherever they are, and cause them to meet believers who will share the gospel with them clearly and lovingly.

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.
readPhilippians 1:6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be assured that God will complete the good work He has begun in them until the day of Christ's return.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.
readPsalm 23:6

Ask God to raise up believers who will share the hope that, for those who trust in Christ, goodness and love will follow them all the days of their lives, and they will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress Index ▼LanguageReligion
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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