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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
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Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Acehnese of Indonesia

The Acehnese of Indonesia, numbering approximately 4,880,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Austronesian people of northern Sumatra whose identity was shaped by the Aceh Sultanate and centuries of interaction among indigenous, Malay, and other regional populations. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Achinese is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Acehnese

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Aceh of Sumatra
Primary Language(s): Achinese (ace)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 4,880,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022477
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Pray for the Acehnese 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Achinese
Language Family:

95%
%
Aceh Speakers

Media Resources in Achinese:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Achinese:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Today's Aceh Version, 1997✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Achinese bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Acehnese 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 Acehnese:
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 Acehnese 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.

Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
readPsalm 25:5

Pray that the gospel will advance and that God will lead people in His truth, bringing many to salvation.

I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.
readMatthew 25:36

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will honor Jesus and find joy as they take care of those in need.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
readRomans 6:23

Pray that God will bring people to faith who are excited about the eternal life they have in Christ and will want to cross cultures to share this hope with others.

Acehnese Across Countries (ROP3 - 100036) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▼CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
AchenesePG047659AcheneseUnited States400Unengaged and UnreachedAchineseSunni Islam
AcehnesePG022477AcehneseIndonesia4,880,000Engaged yet UnreachedAchineseSunni Islam

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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