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The Canari Highland Quichua of Ecuador

The Canari Highland Quichua of Ecuador, numbering approximately 175,000 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: 175,000
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
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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.

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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

For God is the King of all the earth; sing praises with a psalm!
readPsalm 47:7

Pray for those who live for idols that will never satisfy their hearts, asking that someone will tell them that God is the King of all the earth so that they will turn to Him in repentance and praise.

Whenever you enter a town and they receive you, eat what is set before you. Heal the sick in it and say to them, "the kingdom of God has come near to you."
readLuke 10:8-9

Pray that the lost will receive messengers of the gospel with joy, turn from their sins, and be healed.

But my righteous one shall live by faith, and if he shrinks back, my soul has no pleasure in him.
readHebrews 10:38

Pray that as people trust in Christ, they will live by faith and not shrink back from their hope in Christ.

I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
readPsalm 139:14

Praise God for His creativity and power, and pray that He will raise up men and women from among them who are in awe of all He has done and want to go share the hope of Christ with others.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▲
Canari Highland QuichuaPG017461Canari Highland QuichuaEcuador175,000No 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.

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