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The Western Bontok of Philippines

The Western Bontok of Philippines, numbering approximately 143,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of the Philippines. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Northern Kankanay is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Philippines
People Cluster: Filipino Tribal
Primary Language(s): Northern Kankanay (xnn)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 143,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG007808
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Pray for the Western Bontok 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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

71%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Northern Kankanay
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Kankanay, Northern Speakers

Media Resources in Northern Kankanay:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Northern Kankanay:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Northern Kankanay bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Western Bontok 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 Western Bontok:
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 Western Bontok of Philippines

For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it, for how should my name be profaned? My glory I will not give to another.
readIsaiah 48:11

Pray that those who have been living for their own glory will turn to the One who is worthy of all praise and find their true identity in Him.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
readJohn 3:16

Pray that the lost will seek God and learn that they have a heavenly Father who loves them and wants them to live eternally with Him.

Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of host.
readJeremiah 15:16

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will find joy and delight in the Word of the Lord.

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!

Kankanay, Northern Across Countries (ROP3 - 104587) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▼Religion
Western BontokPG007808Western BontokPhilippines143,000No Longer UnreachedNorthern KankanayRoman Catholicism

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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