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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Rakhine of Myanmar

The Rakhine of Myanmar, numbering approximately 2,205,000 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. They mostly adhere to Theravada Buddhism and Rakhine is their primary language.

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: 2,205,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent 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.

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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:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Rakhine:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Rakhine bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

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

Pray specifically for the Rakhine of Myanmar

I am the LORD, and there is no other, besides me there is no God; I equip you, though you do not know me, that people may know, from the rising of the sun and from the west, that there is none besides me; I am the LORD, and there is no other.
readIsaiah 45:5-6

Pray that the lost among them will be delivered from the confusion of false beliefs and come to know the one true God who alone brings light and purpose to their lives.

But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.
readMark 4:20

Pray that those who have never encountered the gospel will have the opportunity to receive it, and that it will fall on good soil and bear much fruit.

And God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound in every good work.
read2 Corinthians 9:8

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will trust God in all things, especially in times of persecution.

Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.”
readPsalm 96:10

Pray for God to put in the hearts of believers to go to the lost and testify about the Lord who reigns.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▼CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
RakkainPG048703RakkainBangladesh34,500Engaged yet UnreachedRakhineTheravada Buddhism
RakhinePG022040RakhineMyanmar2,205,000Engaged yet UnreachedRakhineTheravada Buddhism
RakhinePG050373RakhineUnited States7,700Engaged yet UnreachedRakhineTheravada Buddhism
MagPG042019MagIndia57,500Engaged yet UnreachedRakhineEthnoreligion

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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