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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
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Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Malays of Myanmar

The Malays of Myanmar, numbering approximately 27,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Malay community descended primarily from settlers from the northern Malay Peninsula that preserves its Malay heritage and maintains cultural ties to the wider Malay world along Myanmar's southern coast. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Malay (individual language) is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Malay

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Myanmar
People Cluster: Malay
Primary Language(s): Malay (individual language) (zlm)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 27,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG009476
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Pray for the Malays of Myanmar

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: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Malay (individual language)
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Malay Speakers

Media Resources in Malay (individual language):

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
The SaviorView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Malay (individual language):

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2001 Today's Malay Version✓✓
Alkitab Versi Borneo✓✓✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Malay (individual language) bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), 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.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Malays:
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

Pray specifically for the Malays of Myanmar

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
readActs 4:12

Pray that those walking in darkness among them will come to know the name by which they must be saved, and call upon Him in faith.

Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head and fell on the ground and worshiped. And he said, ‘Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked shall I return. The LORD gave, and the LORD has taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.’ In all this Job did not sin or charge God with wrong.
readJob 1:20-22

Pray that those who mourn will worship God in the midst of their suffering and loss, recognizing He is the source of all good things and that He is worthy of their praise and trust.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
readJames 1:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will ask God for wisdom when they lack it, trusting that He will generously give it to them.

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
readEphesians 6:12

Ask God to give those He sends to cross cultures the discernment they need to recognize the spiritual battle they are fighting. Pray God will protect their faith as they abide in Him.

Malay Across Countries (ROP3 - 106144) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

10 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
MalaysPG020134MalaysMalaysia13,670,000Engaged yet UnreachedMalay (individual language)Sunni Islam
MalaysPG010713MalaysSingapore745,000Engaged yet UnreachedMalay (individual language)Sunni Islam
MalaysPG006435MalaysSri Lanka73,500Unengaged and UnreachedSri Lankan Creole MalaySunni Islam
MalaysPG000656MalaysUnited Kingdom56,000Engaged yet UnreachedMalay (individual language)Sunni Islam
MalaysPG009476MalaysMyanmar27,000Unengaged and UnreachedMalay (individual language)Sunni Islam
MalaysPG007977MalaysAustralia21,500Engaged yet UnreachedMalay (individual language)Sunni Islam
MalaysPG043435MalaysCanada11,500Unengaged and UnreachedMalay (individual language)Sunni Islam
MalaysPG043339MalaysUnited States10,500Unengaged and UnreachedMalay (individual language)Sunni Islam
MalaysPG015276MalaysComoros1,100Engaged yet UnreachedMalay (individual language)Sunni Islam
MalaysPG015369MalaysMayotte325Engaged yet UnreachedMalay (individual language)Sunni Islam

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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