Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Sinhalese of United Arab Emirates

The Sinhalese of United Arab Emirates, numbering approximately 179,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a culturally rich and historically significant ethnic group in Sri Lanka, known for their Sinhala language, Theravada Buddhist traditions, and influential role in shaping the island's cultural and political landscape. They mostly adhere to Theravada Buddhism and Sinhala is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: United Arab Emirates
People Cluster: Sinhala
Primary Language(s): Sinhala (sin)
Primary Religion(s): Theravada Buddhism
Population: 179,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012253
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Pray for the Sinhalese 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Theravada Buddhism
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

90%
%
Theravada Buddhism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sinhala
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Sinhala Speakers

Media Resources in Sinhala:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Sinhala:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Sinhala bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Sinhalese 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 Sinhalese:
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 Sinhalese of United Arab Emirates

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
readRom 6:23

Pray that those who haven't heard yet will hear and believe that the wages of their sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
read2 Peter 3:9

Pray that the lost will not perish but come to repentance and that God's patience and long-suffering will lead them to salvation.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
readJohn 14:3

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have hope in trials because they know that Jesus will one day take them to be with Him forever.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
readJohn 1:5

Pray that when discouraging days come, those who cross cultures for the sake of the gospel will be comforted as they remember that the light of Christ is stronger than the darkness that surrounds them.

Sinhalese Across Countries (ROP3 - 109305) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

11 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
SinhalesePG047303SinhaleseUnited States30,500Engaged yet UnreachedSinhalaTheravada Buddhism
SinhalesePG046417SinhaleseQatar56,500Engaged yet UnreachedSinhalaTheravada Buddhism
SinhalesePG046413SinhaleseOman53,000Engaged yet UnreachedSinhalaTheravada Buddhism
SinhalesePG043470SinhaleseCanada18,000Engaged yet UnreachedSinhalaTheravada Buddhism
Sri LankenPG042326Sri LankenItaly115,000Unengaged and UnreachedSinhalaTheravada Buddhism
SinhalesePG018261SinhaleseMalaysia36,500No Longer UnreachedSinhalaTheravada Buddhism
SinhalesePG012253SinhaleseUnited Arab Emirates179,000Engaged yet UnreachedSinhalaTheravada Buddhism
SinhalesePG010919SinhaleseThailand8,200Unengaged and UnreachedSinhalaTheravada Buddhism
SinhalesePG010722SinhaleseSingapore23,500Unengaged and UnreachedSinhalaTheravada Buddhism
SinhalesePG006441SinhaleseSri Lanka17,680,000Engaged yet UnreachedSinhalaTheravada Buddhism
SinhalesePG006165SinhaleseMaldives4,000No Longer UnreachedSinhalaTheravada Buddhism

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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