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
Be sure to use the data import function in your favorite app for working with data.
If you'd like to help improve these translations, Contact Us.

The Canari Highland Quichua of Ecuador

The Canari Highland Quichua of Ecuador, numbering approximately 174,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an Andean people of southern Ecuador's Azuay and Canar highlands with over 3,000 years of settlement, noted for fine goldwork and stone architecture, who resisted Inca conquest until defeat in the 1470s and later allied with the Spanish against the Inca. They mostly adhere to Folk Catholicism and Cañar Highland Quichua is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Quichua, Canari Highland

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Ecuador
People Cluster: Quechua
Primary Language(s): Cañar Highland Quichua (qxr)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Catholicism
Population: 174,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG017461
View on Joshua Project

Print Profile
Submit Updates

Pray for the Canari Highland Quichua of Ecuador

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!
Download Prayer Guide

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

98%
%
Folk Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Cañar Highland Quichua
Language Family: Quechuan

40%
%
Quichua, Cañar Highland Speakers

Media Resources in Cañar Highland Quichua:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Cañar Highland Quichua:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Sociedades Bíblicas Unidas de Ecuador 2010✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Cañar Highland Quichua bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Canari Highland Quichua 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 Canari Highland Quichua:
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 Canari Highland Quichua of Ecuador

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.
readColossians 3:5-6

Pray for God to have mercy and give those who don't yet know Him the gift of Jesus and His salvation for all who call upon His name.

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.
readActs 13:48-49

Pray that the gospel will spread throughout this whole region and that many will believe and embrace the gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.

Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how you ought to answer each person.
readColossians 4:6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, their speech will always be gracious and ready to answer for the hope which is within them.

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.

Quichua, Canar Highland Across Countries (ROP3 - 101871) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Canari Highland QuichuaPG017461Canari Highland QuichuaEcuador174,000No Longer UnreachedCañar Highland QuichuaFolk Catholicism

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.

Scroll to Top