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The Bamar of Myanmar

The Bamar of Myanmar, numbering approximately 29,850,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnic Bamar community indigenous to Myanmar. The Bamar are the largest ethnic group in Myanmar, accounting for two-thirds of the country's population. They mostly adhere to Theravada Buddhism and Burmese is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3 Flash: Bamar

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Myanmar
People Cluster: Burmese
Primary Language(s): Burmese (mya)
Primary Religion(s): Theravada Buddhism
Population: 29,850,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022042
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Pray for the Bamar 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

97%
%
Theravada Buddhism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Burmese
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

100%
%
Burmese Speakers

Media Resources in Burmese:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

3 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Burmese:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Myanmar Standard Bible✓✓
သမ္မာကျမ်း (Judson Bible)✓✓✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Burmese bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Bamar 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 Bamar:
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 Bamar of Myanmar

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.
readGenesis 3:15

Pray that those without Christ will hear the words of Genesis 1-3 in their own language, and desire to know their Creator and His provision of salvation.

And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
read1 John 4:21

Pray that the good news of God's love will reach everyone in this people group, and that His love will compel them to love others as Christ has loved us.

For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you.
readActs 17:23

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have a deep desire to know God more fully and to make Him known in creative ways to others who are still searching for truth.

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.
read1 Corinthians 9:20

Pray that believers from similar cultures will be compelled by Christ's love to reach people who don't know the gospel, and that those people will receive the good news with joy.

Burmese Across Countries (ROP3 - 101776) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

13 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▼Religion
BurmesePG000619BurmeseUnited Kingdom12,500Engaged yet UnreachedBurmeseTheravada Buddhism
BurmesePG001160BurmeseBangladesh527,000Engaged yet UnreachedBurmeseTheravada Buddhism
BurmesePG010833BurmeseThailand1,435,000Engaged yet UnreachedBurmeseTheravada Buddhism
BurmesePG018252BurmeseCambodia5,000Unengaged and UnreachedBurmeseTheravada Buddhism
BurmesePG018483BurmeseMalaysia32,500No Longer UnreachedBurmeseTheravada Buddhism
MyenPG020930MyenLaos800Unengaged and UnreachedBurmeseEthnoreligion
BamarPG022042BamarMyanmar29,850,000Engaged yet UnreachedBurmeseTheravada Buddhism
BurmesePG033529BurmeseGermany500No Longer UnreachedBurmeseTheravada Buddhism
BurmesePG043752BurmeseAustralia14,000Engaged yet UnreachedBurmeseTheravada Buddhism
BurmesePG047239BurmeseUnited States107,000Engaged yet UnreachedBurmeseTheravada Buddhism
BurmesePG047440BurmeseCanada5,900Engaged yet UnreachedBurmeseTheravada Buddhism
BarmiPG048889BarmiIndia650No Longer UnreachedBurmeseTheravada Buddhism
BurmesePG050596BurmeseMacao8,000Unengaged and UnreachedBurmeseTheravada 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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