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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
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Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
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The Batak Karo of Indonesia

The Batak Karo of Indonesia, numbering approximately 922,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Batak people whose cultural homeland is Tanah Karo in North Sumatra, with a society traditionally organized through exogamous patrilineal clans. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Batak Karo is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Batak-Nias of Sumatra
Primary Language(s): Batak Karo (btx)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 922,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG022484
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Pray for the Batak Karo 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: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Batak Karo
Language Family: Austronesian

76%
%
Batak Karo Speakers

Media Resources in Batak Karo:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Batak Karo:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Today's Karo Version, 1987✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Batak Karo bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Batak Karo 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 Batak Karo:
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 Batak Karo of Indonesia

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.
readJohn 11:25

Pray for the many who have never heard about or understood the importance of what Jesus did for them, asking God to make a way for them to hear that the perfect Son of Man suffered, died, and rose again so that they might be saved.

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
readIsaiah 43:19

Pray that the lost will see the new thing God can do in their lives and trust in His plan and purpose for them.

Praise the LORD! I will give thanks to the LORD with my whole heart, in the company of the upright, in the congregation.
readPsalm 111:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will praise the Lord with their whole heart in the assembly of the upright and in the congregation.

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

Ask God to raise up people who will trust in His sovereignty as they share the gospel, knowing that it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.

Batak Karo Across Countries (ROP3 - 114801) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Batak KaroPG022484Batak KaroIndonesia922,000No Longer UnreachedBatak KaroProtestantism

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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