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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Melanau of Malaysia

The Melanau of Malaysia, numbering approximately 160,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Malaysia. They mostly adhere to Folk Islam and Central Melanau is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Malaysia
People Cluster: Borneo-Kalimantan
Primary Language(s): Central Melanau (mel)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 160,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG018518
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Pray for the Melanau 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: Folk Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

55%
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Central Melanau
Language Family: Austronesian

70%
%
Melanau, Central Speakers

Media Resources in Central Melanau:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Central Melanau:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Central Melanau bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Melanau 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 Melanau:
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 Melanau of Malaysia

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
readRomans 5:10

Pray that any who may be enemies of God will grasp the depth of God's love demonstrated through Christ's death for the ungodly, and be reconciled to Him.

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.

And now, Lord, look upon their threats and grant to your servants to continue to speak your word with all boldness.
readActs 4:29

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and face rejection by unbelievers in their communities, God will give them discernment, boldness, and encouragement to speak His Word.

Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father sends me, even so I am sending you."
readJohn 20:21

Ask God to raise up and send out believers cross-culturally who will go out in His authority and be sustained by His peace as they share the gospel with the lost.

Melanau Across Countries (ROP3 - 106531) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
MelanauPG018518MelanauMalaysia160,000No Longer UnreachedCentral MelanauFolk Islam

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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