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The Burmese of Malaysia

The Burmese of Malaysia, numbering approximately 32,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnic Bamar community indigenous to Myanmar. They mostly adhere to Theravada Buddhism and Burmese is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Malaysia
People Cluster: Burmese
Primary Language(s): Burmese (mya)
Primary Religion(s): Theravada Buddhism
Population: 32,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG018483
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Pray for the Burmese of Malaysia

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: Theravada Buddhism
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

97%
%
Theravada Buddhism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Burmese
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

100%
%
Burmese Speakers

Media Resources in Burmese:

Films:
Title Link
JESUS View Film
JESUS View Film
Magdalena View Film

3 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Burmese:

Bible Name (Translation) Video Audio Text
Myanmar Standard Bible ✓ ✓
သမ္မာကျမ်း (Judson Bible) ✓ ✓ ✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Burmese bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Burmese 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 Burmese:
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 Burmese of Malaysia

For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens.
readPsalm 96:5

Pray that those who are seeking after worthless idols will not be satisfied until they seek the truth and find it in Christ.

O LORD, how manifold are your works! In wisdom have you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.
readPsalm 104:24

Pray that they will see the wisdom and power of God in His creation and praise Him for His mighty works.

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.

Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works!
readPsalm 105:2

Pray for God to saturate this place with the gospel and raise up believing men and women from among them to share the good news of Christ with those who have yet to encounter it.

Burmese Across Countries (ROP3 - 101776) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

13 people groups

Photo People Group ID Name Country Population ▲ Strategic Progress Index Language Religion
Burmese PG033529 Burmese Germany 500 No Longer Unreached Burmese Theravada Buddhism
Barmi PG048889 Barmi India 650 No Longer Unreached Burmese Theravada Buddhism
Myen PG020930 Myen Laos 800 Unengaged and Unreached Burmese Ethnoreligion
Burmese PG018252 Burmese Cambodia 5,000 Unengaged and Unreached Burmese Theravada Buddhism
Burmese PG047440 Burmese Canada 5,900 Engaged yet Unreached Burmese Theravada Buddhism
Burmese PG050596 Burmese Macao 8,000 Unengaged and Unreached Burmese Theravada Buddhism
Burmese PG000619 Burmese United Kingdom 12,500 Engaged yet Unreached Burmese Theravada Buddhism
Burmese PG043752 Burmese Australia 14,000 Engaged yet Unreached Burmese Theravada Buddhism
Burmese PG018483 Burmese Malaysia 32,500 No Longer Unreached Burmese Theravada Buddhism
Burmese PG047239 Burmese United States 107,000 Engaged yet Unreached Burmese Theravada Buddhism
Burmese PG001160 Burmese Bangladesh 527,000 Engaged yet Unreached Burmese Theravada Buddhism
Burmese PG010833 Burmese Thailand 1,435,000 Engaged yet Unreached Burmese Theravada Buddhism
Bamar PG022042 Bamar Myanmar 29,860,000 Engaged yet Unreached Burmese Theravada Buddhism

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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