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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Rakhine of Myanmar

The Rakhine of Myanmar, numbering approximately 2,200,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an ethnolinguistic community of Myanmar They are an Indigenous people, with Arakanese (Rakhine) as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Burmese people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Theravada Buddhism. They primarily speak Rakhine.

Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Rakhine

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Myanmar
People Cluster: Burmese
Primary Language(s): Rakhine (rki)
Primary Religion(s): Theravada Buddhism
Population: 2,200,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022040
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Pray for the Rakhine of Myanmar

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

80%
%
Theravada Buddhism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Rakhine
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

100%
%
Rakhine Speakers

Media Resources in Rakhine:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Rakhine:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Rakhine bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 1), 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 Active 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 Rakhine:
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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Rakhine are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Rakhine:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Rakhine 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 Rakhine:
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 Rakhine of Myanmar

For the LORD knows the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.
readPsalm 1:6

As many look for hope in worldly pleasures, pray they will hear and accept salvation through Christ, turn from destruction, and experience joy in the way of righteousness.

He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young.
readIsaiah 40:11

Pray that the lost will come to know the tender care of the Good Shepherd, who gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart.

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 light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
readJohn 1:5

Pray that when discouraging days come, those who cross cultures for the sake of the gospel will be comforted as they remember that the light of Christ is stronger than the darkness that surrounds them.

Arakanese (Rakhine) Across Countries (ROP3 - 106013) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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