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

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.

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

All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.
readRomans 3:12

Pray that those who are enslaved to sin will admit their need for a Savior, acknowledging that no one is righteous.

Worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness; tremble before him, all the earth!
readPsalm 96:9

Pray that many who do not yet know Jesus will come to know Him and worship Him in the splendor of His holiness.

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.
read1 Corinthians 9:19

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have hearts that want to serve the lost around them so that many might come to faith in Jesus.

And the King will answer them, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."
readMatthew 25:40

Ask God to raise up and send believers who will serve "the least of these" with compassion and energy because they know that in serving those in need, they are serving Christ.

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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