The West Uvean of New Caledonia

The West Uvean of New Caledonia, numbering approximately 2,700 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are descendants of Wallisian Polynesian navigators who settled Ouvea in New Caledonia's Loyalty Islands in the late 1600s, whose Fagauvea speech is the only Polynesian language to count in base five, under influence from the neighboring Iaai people. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and West Uvean is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: New Caledonia
People Cluster: Polynesian
Primary Language(s): West Uvean (uve)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 2,700
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG018383
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the West Uvean of New Caledonia

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

90%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: West Uvean
Language Family: Austronesian

78%
%
Fagauvea Speakers

Media Resources in West Uvean:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in West Uvean:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the West Uvean bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the West Uvean:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Pray specifically for the West Uvean of New Caledonia

"And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
readJohn 8:32

Pray for those who live enslaved to sin to hear and receive the truth of the gospel and be set free.

Sing praises to God, sing praises! Sing praises to our King, sing praises!
readPsalm 47:6

Pray that believers will have a heart to invite others to trust in Christ alone so that they might sing praises to His name.

For the LORD, the Most High, is to be feared, a great king over all the earth.
readPsalm 47:2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will exalt the Lord, recognizing His reign over the nations and His sovereignty over all things.

I do it all for the sake of the gospel, that I may share with them in its blessing.
read1 Corinthians 9:23

Ask God to give believers a deep desire to share the gospel with those who don't know the truth about God's redemption plan, and to provide them with opportunities to do so cross-culturally.

West Uvean Across Countries (ROP3 - 110766) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

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