The Duke of York Islanders of Papua New Guinea

The Duke of York Islanders of Papua New Guinea, numbering approximately 24,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as an indigenous ethnic group of Papua New Guinea They are an Indigenous people, with Duke of York Islander as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the New Guinea people cluster of the Pacific Islander Peoples. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Ramoaaina is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Duke of York Islander

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: Papua New Guinea
People Cluster: New Guinea
Primary Language(s): Ramoaaina (rai)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 24,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG009876
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Duke of York Islanders of Papua New Guinea

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: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

45%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Ramoaaina
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Ramoaaina Speakers

Media Resources in Ramoaaina:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Ramoaaina:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2006 Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Ramoaaina bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Duke of York Islanders 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 Duke of York Islanders:
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 Duke of York Islanders of Papua New Guinea

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 those who are lost in darkness and confusion will come to understand God's ways, submit to His righteous rule, and experience the joy of His salvation.

The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them.
readPsalm 104:8

Pray that they will see the hand of God in the beauty and order of the natural world, and that they will worship Him as the Creator and Sustainer of all things.

"...I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
readMatthew 16:18b

Pray that God will build and grow His Church among this people.

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them on ahead of him, two by two, into every town and place where he himself was about to go.
readLuke 10:1

Ask God to raise up, send out, and sustain Christians who can go together to share the good news of Jesus with those who need it.

Duke of York Islander Across Countries (ROP3 - 102755) 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.

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