The Ilongot of Philippines

The Ilongot of Philippines, numbering approximately 103,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Bugkalot (Ilongot) people of the Sierra Madre and Caraballo Mountains in northern Luzon, Philippines, whose traditional headhunting rite of avenging grief through raids persisted until the 1970s. They mostly adhere to Animism and Ilongot is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Philippines
People Cluster: Filipino Tribal
Primary Language(s): Ilongot (ilk)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 103,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG007687
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Ilongot of Philippines

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: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

77%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Ilongot
Language Family: Austronesian

69%
%
Bogkalot Speakers

Media Resources in Ilongot:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Ilongot:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Ilongot bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Ilongot 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 Ilongot:
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 Ilongot of Philippines

But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven"
readMatthew 9:14

Pray that those who are spiritually dead will recognize their need for spiritual nourishment and turn to the One who offers true fulfillment.

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
readPsalm 8:1

Pray that those who have yet to believe will soon recognize the majesty of God's name and raise their voices in praise to the Lord Almighty.

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.
readIsaiah 49:13

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and suffer for their faith, they will sing for joy and be glad in their hearts because the Lord has compassion on them.

Come, bless the LORD, all you servants of the LORD, who stand by night in the house of the LORD!
readPsalm 134:1

Pray that God will raise up believers among them who are in awe of Him and that, in service to Him, they will share the gospel with others so that they too may bless the Lord!

Ilongot Across Countries (ROP3 - 103999) 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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