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The Rumai Palaung of Myanmar

The Rumai Palaung of Myanmar, numbering approximately 218,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Palaung subgroup of Myanmar's northern Shan hills who settled the region before the Shan arrived from China in the twelfth century, sustaining themselves through tea cultivation on mountain slopes near Namhsan. They mostly adhere to Theravada Buddhism and Rumai Palaung is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Rumai Palaung

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Myanmar
People Cluster: Mon-Khmer
Primary Language(s): Rumai Palaung (rbb)
Primary Religion(s): Theravada Buddhism
Population: 218,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022053
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Pray for the Rumai Palaung of Myanmar

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Theravada Buddhism
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

95%
%
Theravada Buddhism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Rumai Palaung
Language Family: Austroasiatic

100%
%
Palaung, Rumai Speakers

Media Resources in Rumai Palaung:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Rumai Palaung:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Rumai Palaung bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Rumai Palaung 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 Rumai Palaung:
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 Rumai Palaung of Myanmar

I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
readIsaiah 42:8

Pray that lost people will turn from worthless idols to worship the one true God, recognizing that He alone is worthy of all glory and praise.

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
readRomans 9:16

Pray that the merciful God who is at work in people's hearts will advance His gospel among them.

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
readRomans 5:2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will rejoice in the hope of glory and be in awe of God's mercy that gives them access to Him through faith.

For the needy shall not always be forgotten, and the hope of the poor shall not perish forever.
readPsalm 9:18

Pray that God will raise up believers who can help meet emotional and physical needs among this people group. Ask Him to open doors for them and give them the courage to walk into difficult situations and share the hope of the gospel boldly.

Rumai Across Countries (ROP3 - 108436) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Rumai PalaungPG022053Rumai PalaungMyanmar218,000Engaged yet UnreachedRumai PalaungTheravada Buddhism
Rumai De`angPG006719Rumai De`angChina6,300Unengaged and UnreachedRumai PalaungMahayana 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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