The Antillean Creoles of Curacao

The Antillean Creoles of Curacao, numbering approximately 121,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnic community of mixed European, African, and Indigenous American ancestry. They mostly adhere to Folk Catholicism and Papiamento is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Antillean Creole

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Curacao
People Cluster: Afro-Caribbean
Primary Language(s): Papiamento (pap)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Catholicism
Population: 121,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG022316
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Pray for the Antillean Creoles of Curacao

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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

86%
%
Folk Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Papiamento
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Papiamentu Speakers

Media Resources in Papiamento:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Papiamento:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Beibel Koriente Papiamentu✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Papiamento bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Antillean Creoles 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 Antillean Creoles:
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 Antillean Creoles of Curacao

And when you fast, do not look gloomy like the hypocrites, for they disfigure their faces that their fasting may be seen by others. Truly, I say to you, they have received their reward.
readMatthew 6:16

Pray that those who live to please men and not God will turn from the emptiness of seeking approval from others and find true satisfaction in the treasure of a personal relationship with God.

Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
readRomans 2:4

Pray that, in God's kindness and according to His nature, He will lead many to repentance.

This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
readEphesians 5:32-33

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will grasp the profound mystery of Christ's love for the Church, reflecting this love in their marriages.

To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel.
readEphesians 6:18b-19

Ask God to give believers He sends to the lost of this people group the boldness and clarity to proclaim the mystery of the gospel in a way that people can understand.

Antillean (Papiamentu) Across Countries (ROP3 - 100390) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

7 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ā–²Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Antillean CreolesAntillean CreolesCanada2,400No Longer UnreachedPapiamentoRoman Catholicism
Antillean CreolesAntillean CreolesSint Maarten7,100No Longer UnreachedPapiamentoFolk Catholicism
Antillean CreolesAntillean CreolesGermany17,500No Longer UnreachedPapiamentoFolk Catholicism
Antillean CreolesAntillean CreolesBonaire, Sint Eustatius, and Saba30,500No Longer UnreachedPapiamentoFolk Catholicism
Antillean CreolesAntillean CreolesAruba82,000No Longer UnreachedDutchFolk Catholicism
Antillean CreolesAntillean CreolesCuracao121,000No Longer UnreachedPapiamentoFolk Catholicism
Antillean CreolesAntillean CreolesNetherlands137,000No Longer UnreachedPapiamentoRoman Catholicism

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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