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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Babuyan Islands Ivatan of the Philippines

The Babuyan Islands Ivatan of the Philippines, numbering approximately 2,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of the Philippines and can also be known as Ibatan, Bashic Ibatan. They are an Indigenous people, in the Filipino Tribal people cluster of the Malay Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion. They primarily speak Ibatan.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Babuyan Islands Ivatan

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
Country: the Philippines
People Cluster: Filipino Tribal
Primary Language(s): Ibatan (ivb)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 2,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG007628

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Ibatan
Language Family: Austronesian

%
Ibatan Speakers

Media Resources in Ibatan:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Ibatan:

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Next steps for the Babuyan Islands Ivatan

The Babuyan Islands Ivatan are Unengaged and Unreached, 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.

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

Next steps for the Babuyan Islands Ivatan

The Babuyan Islands Ivatan 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.

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

Next steps for the Babuyan Islands Ivatan

The Babuyan Islands Ivatan 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.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Babuyan Islands Ivatan of the Philippines

If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
read1 John 1:9

Pray that God, who is faithful and just, will open the eyes of those who are lost and draw them to confess their sins and trust in Him to grant forgiveness.

Let the nations be glad and sing for joy, for you judge the peoples with equity and guide the nations upon earth.
readPsalm 67:4

Pray that God will use ways from in-person witnesses to digital gospel resources to bring the joy of His salvation to everyone so that they can be glad in Him and sing for joy.

The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
readLamentations 3:25

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will trust in the goodness of the Lord as they wait on Him to answer their cries for help.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
read2 Peter 3:9

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will patiently endure hardships as they share the gospel, knowing that the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise.

Ivatan, Babuyan Islands reported in the following countries (ROP3):

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 Definitions page.

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