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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Keningau Dusun of Malaysia

The Keningau Dusun of Malaysia, numbering approximately 4,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Dusun people of Keningau district in Sabah's Borneo interior, part of the internationally recognized Kadazan-Dusun indigenous bloc descended from Austronesian settlers who reached Borneo millennia ago. They mostly adhere to Animism and Sabah Malay is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Malaysia
People Cluster: Borneo-Kalimantan
Primary Language(s): Sabah Malay (msi)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 4,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG019337
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Pray for the Keningau Dusun 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: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

75%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sabah Malay
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Malay, Sabah Speakers

Media Resources in Sabah Malay:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Sabah Malay:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Sabah Malay bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Keningau Dusun 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 Keningau Dusun:
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 Keningau Dusun of Malaysia

I love those who love me, and those who seek me diligently find me.
readProverbs 8:17

As many search for hope, pray they will discover materials that will lead them to Jesus and explain the gospel in a way they will resonate with.

Come and see what God has done: he is awesome in his deeds toward the children of man.
readPsalm 66:5

Pray that many here will come and see what the Creator God has done on their behalf.

If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him.
readJames 1:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will ask God for wisdom when they lack it, trusting that He will generously give it to them.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
read2 Peter 3:9

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will patiently endure hardships as they share the gospel, knowing that the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise.

Dusun, Keningau Across Countries (ROP3 - 102783) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Keningau DusunPG019337Keningau DusunMalaysia4,500No Longer UnreachedSabah MalayAnimism

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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