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The Merina of Madagascar

The Merina of Madagascar, numbering approximately 4,080,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are Madagascar's largest ethnic group, with an estimated population of four million. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Plateau Malagasy is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Madagascar
People Cluster: Malagasy
Primary Language(s): Plateau Malagasy (plt)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 4,080,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG015308

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Pray for the Merina of Madagascar

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: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

90%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Plateau Malagasy
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Malagasy, Merina Speakers

Media Resources in Plateau Malagasy:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Plateau Malagasy:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Dikanteny Iombonana Eto Madagasikara✓
Interconfessional Version✓✓
Protestant version 1985 based on Malagasy Protestant Bible 1965✓✓
Revised Protestant Version✓
Roman Catholic Version 2010 based on text Malagasy Catholic Bible 2003✓✓

5 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Plateau Malagasy bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Merina 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 Merina:
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 Merina of Madagascar

Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.
readJohn 3:18

Pray for those who are living under the burden of their sin to believe in Jesus, the only Son of God, and receive freedom.

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.

But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for his own possession, that you may proclaim the excellencies of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.
read1 Peter 2:9

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will embrace their identity as God's chosen people, royal priests, and holy nation, living out their faith with purity and devotion.

And if anyone will not receive you or listen to your words, shake off the dust from your feet when you leave that house or town. Truly, I say to you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom and Gomorrah than for that town.
readMatthew 10:14-15

Pray for God to raise up and send out believers to share the gospel with those in this people group who do not yet follow Christ. Pray that they will be welcomed with open arms so that the people they share with will hear and receive the good news with joy.

Merina Across Countries (ROP3 - 106560) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress Index ▲LanguageReligion
MerinaPG015308MerinaMadagascar4,080,000No Longer UnreachedPlateau MalagasyProtestantism

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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