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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. 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: 2,205,000
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

But Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven"
readMatthew 9:14

Pray that those who are spiritually dead will recognize their need for spiritual nourishment and turn to the One who offers true fulfillment.

Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia."
readRomans 16:5

Pray for houses to be meeting places for Christians and that God will advance the gospel and grow His Church through natural familial and community relationships.

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.
readLuke 18:17

Pray that as people trust in Christ, they will have simple, childlike confidence that He will provide for their needs.

O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart.
readPsalm 15:1-2

Ask God to send believers who will go and, with integrity, walk blamelessly and do what is right, speaking truth about the Lord with those who need to learn about His redemption plan.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress Index ▼LanguageReligion
RakhinePG050373RakhineUnited States7,700Engaged yet UnreachedRakhineTheravada Buddhism
RakkainPG048703RakkainBangladesh34,500Engaged yet UnreachedRakhineTheravada Buddhism
MagPG042019MagIndia57,500Engaged yet UnreachedRakhineEthnoreligion
RakhinePG022040RakhineMyanmar2,205,000Engaged yet UnreachedRakhineTheravada Buddhism

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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