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The Katio of Colombia

The Katio of Colombia, numbering approximately 38,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Emberá subgroup of northwestern Colombia whose communities inhabit the forested regions of Córdoba, Antioquia, and Chocó and maintain a distinct Katío identity within the broader Emberá cultural and linguistic tradition. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Emberá-Catío is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Embera, Katio

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Colombia
People Cluster: South American Indigenous
Primary Language(s): Emberá-Catío (cto)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 38,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG016227
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Pray for the Katio of Colombia

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: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

55%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Emberá-Catío
Language Family: Chocoan

100%
%
Embera Catío Speakers

Media Resources in Emberá-Catío:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Emberá-Catío:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Wycliffe Bible Translators Inc.✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Emberá-Catío bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Katio 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 Katio:
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 Katio of Colombia

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
read1 John 4:10

Pray for those without the hope of Christ to understand the depth of God's love and the sacrifice He made for them.

And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.
readLuke 2:17

Pray that the lost will receive the good news of salvation in God's Son, have hearts eager to share it with others, and that all who hear will respond with wonder and faith!

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
readPsalm 51:10

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will quickly repent when they sin and walk with clean hearts and right spirits as they grow in their relationship with the Lord.

In him you also, when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation, and believed in him, were sealed with the promised Holy Spirit, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until we acquire possession of it, to the praise of his glory.
readEphesians 1:13-14

Pray that God will work through believers near and far in bringing the lost to Himself, giving them what they need to do the task He has set before them, and helping them rest in Him because He has given them His Spirit.

Embera-Catio (Katio) Across Countries (ROP3 - 101900) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▼Religion
KatioPG016227KatioColombia38,500Engaged yet UnreachedEmberá-CatíoEthnoreligion

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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