The Kangean of Indonesia

The Kangean of Indonesia, numbering approximately 122,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Indigenous Austronesian people native to the Kangean Islands of East Java whose Kangean language is closely related to Madurese and has western, central and eastern varieties. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Madurese is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Madura of Java
Primary Language(s): Madurese (mad)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 122,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, Concentrated CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022433
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Kangean of Indonesia

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: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Madurese
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Madura Speakers

Media Resources in Madurese:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Madurese:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Today's Madura Version, 1994✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Madurese bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Kangean 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 Kangean:
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 Kangean of Indonesia

But with you there is forgiveness, that you may be feared.
readPsalm 130:4

Pray that God will bring those who have hard hearts to repentance and trust in Christ for the forgiveness of their sins.

And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
readZechariah 2:11

Pray that many will take refuge in the Lord and be His people who share the good news of salvation in Jesus with others.

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.
readPsalm 22:27

Pray that all families of the nations will worship the Lord in spirit and in truth.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
read2 Peter 3:9

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will patiently endure hardships as they share the gospel, knowing that the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise.

Kangean Across Countries (ROP3 - 114384) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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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