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The Samoans of New Zealand

The Samoans of New Zealand, numbering approximately 177,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Polynesian ethnic group indigenous to the Samoan Islands, an archipelago in Polynesia that is politically and geographically divided between the Independent State of Samoa and American Samoa, an unincorporated territory of the United States of America. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Samoan is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: New Zealand
People Cluster: Polynesian
Primary Language(s): Samoan (smo)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 177,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG018506
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Pray for the Samoans of New Zealand

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: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

40%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Samoan
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Samoan Speakers

Media Resources in Samoan:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Samoan:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Bible Society of South Pacific✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Samoan bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Samoans 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 Samoans:
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 Samoans of New Zealand

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
readPsalm 9:9-10

Pray that God will help those who are oppressed and without hope to hear the good news of Jesus and trust in Him, for He has never forsaken those who seek Him.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb’
readRevelation 7:9-10

Pray that many people will receive the gospel and will be part of the great multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, clothed in white robes and palm branches, proclaiming salvation belongs to our God.

The LORD make his face to shine upon you and be gracious to you.
readNumbers 6:25

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember that He has given them His favor and His presence.

And if a son of peace is there, your peace will rest upon him. But if not, it will return to you.
readLuke 10:6

Pray that, as people come to faith in Christ and want to share it with others, they will be welcomed into homes and received well so that they can share message of hope with many people.

Samoan Across Countries (ROP3 - 108580) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

9 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
SamoansPG010683SamoansSamoa219,000No Longer UnreachedSamoanProtestantism
SamoansPG018506SamoansNew Zealand177,000No Longer UnreachedSamoanProtestantism
SamoansPG043514SamoansUnited States70,000No Longer UnreachedSamoanProtestantism
SamoansPG050229SamoansAmerican Samoa42,000No Longer UnreachedSamoanProtestantism
SamoansPG008236SamoansFiji1,300No Longer UnreachedSamoanProtestantism
SamoansPG050503SamoansCanada1,200No Longer UnreachedSamoanProtestantism
SamoansPG011059SamoansVanuatu350No Longer UnreachedSamoanProtestantism
SamoansPG018306SamoansTokelau150No Longer UnreachedSamoanProtestantism
SamoansPG018321SamoansTuvalu50No Longer UnreachedSamoanProtestantism

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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