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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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The Punjabis of United Arab Emirates

The Punjabis of United Arab Emirates, numbering approximately 334,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic group characterized by their rich cultural heritage, agricultural prowess, and vibrant traditions, originating from the Punjab region of South Asia, currently divided between Pakistan and India. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Panjabi is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: United Arab Emirates
People Cluster: Punjabi
Primary Language(s): Panjabi (pan)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 334,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012249
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Pray for the Punjabis of United Arab Emirates

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

55%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Panjabi
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Punjabi, Eastern Speakers

Media Resources in Panjabi:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

3 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Panjabi:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2000 Bible League International✓
Indian Revised Version✓✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Panjabi bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Punjabis 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.

Next steps for the Punjabis:
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

Pray specifically for the Punjabis of United Arab Emirates

For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
readPsalm 1:6

As many look for hope in worldly pleasures, pray they will hear and accept salvation through Christ, turn from destruction, and experience joy in the way of righteousness.

But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.
readMark 4:20

Pray that those who have never encountered the gospel will have the opportunity to receive it, and that it will fall on good soil and bear much fruit.

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
readActs 2:46-47

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be devoted to the teaching of God's Word, to fellowship with one another, and to prayer.

At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ...that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.
readColossians 4:3-4

Ask God to open doors for believers to share the gospel and help them communicate it clearly so that more people will understand the mystery of Christ and turn to follow Him.

Punjabi, Eastern Across Countries (ROP3 - 108182) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

18 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Eastern PunjabisPG000673Eastern PunjabisUnited Kingdom815,000Engaged yet UnreachedPanjabiSikhism
PunjabisPG043605PunjabisUnited States606,000Engaged yet UnreachedPanjabiSikhism
PunjabisPG012249PunjabisUnited Arab Emirates334,000Engaged yet UnreachedPanjabiSunni Islam
PunjabisPG018234PunjabisMalaysia172,000Engaged yet UnreachedPanjabiSikhism
PunjabisPG011888PunjabisOman134,000Engaged yet UnreachedPanjabiSunni Islam
Eastern PunjabisPG009504Eastern PunjabisMyanmar78,000Unengaged and UnreachedPanjabiFolk Hinduism
PunjabisPG015024PunjabisTanzania71,000Engaged yet UnreachedPanjabiHinduism
SikhsPG048148SikhsKenya43,000Engaged yet UnreachedPanjabiSikhism
PunjabisPG011805PunjabisKuwait21,000Engaged yet UnreachedPanjabiSunni Islam
PunjabisPG006280PunjabisNepal16,500Engaged yet UnreachedPanjabiFolk Hinduism
SikhsPG048144SikhsFrance16,000Engaged yet UnreachedPanjabiSikhism
PunjabisPG010717PunjabisSingapore15,000No Longer UnreachedPanjabiSikhism
PunjabisPG006439PunjabisSri Lanka13,000Engaged yet UnreachedPanjabiSikhism
SikhsPG010910SikhsThailand11,500Engaged yet UnreachedPanjabiSikhism
PunjabisPG000094PunjabisDenmark10,000Unengaged and UnreachedPanjabiSikhism
PunjabisPG008234PunjabisFiji9,600Unengaged and UnreachedPanjabiFolk Hinduism
PunjabisPG024006PunjabisAfghanistan9,000Unengaged and UnreachedPanjabiSunni Islam
Punjabi SikhsPG001198Punjabi SikhsBangladesh80Unengaged and UnreachedPanjabiSikhism

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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