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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Mapuche of Chile

The Mapuche of Chile, numbering approximately 1,390,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an indigenous group native to central and southern Chile and the adjacent parts of southwestern Argentina. They mostly adhere to Folk Catholicism and Mapudungun is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Chile
People Cluster: South American Indigenous
Primary Language(s): Mapudungun (arn)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Catholicism
Population: 1,390,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG017450
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Pray for the Mapuche of Chile

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: Folk Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

65%
%
Folk Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Mapudungun
Language Family: Araucanian

52%
%
Mapudungun Speakers

Media Resources in Mapudungun:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Mapudungun:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Chilean Bible Society✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Mapudungun bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Mapuche 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 Mapuche:
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 Mapuche of Chile

For you, O LORD, are most high over all the earth; you are exalted far above all gods.
readPsalm 97:9

Pray that those who don't yet know Him will recognize the Lord as the Most High and turn from spiritual darkness to worship Him above all else.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise).
readEphesians 6:1-2

Pray that God will bring young men and women to faith in Jesus and that the fruit of their faith will be a powerful testimony as they honor their parents.

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.

The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
readJohn 1:35-36

Pray for those God sends to cross cultures to share the gospel, that they might faithfully share the good news of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Mapuche Across Countries (ROP3 - 106296) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress Index ▼LanguageReligion
MapuchePG017450MapucheChile1,390,000No Longer UnreachedMapudungunFolk Catholicism
MapuchePG017350MapucheArgentina126,000No Longer UnreachedMapudungunEthnoreligion

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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