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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Batak Simalungun of Indonesia

The Batak Simalungun of Indonesia, numbering approximately 1,625,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as an ethnolinguistic community of Indonesia (Sumatra), north Sumatra, northeast of Lake Toba They are an Indigenous people, with Batak as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Batak-Nias of Sumatra people cluster of the Malay Peoples. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Batak Simalungun is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Batak-Nias of Sumatra
Primary Language(s): Batak Simalungun (bts)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 1,625,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG022485
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Pray for the Batak Simalungun 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 Simalungun
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Batak Simalungun Speakers

Media Resources in Batak Simalungun:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Batak Simalungun:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Formal Batak Simalungun Version, 2007✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Batak Simalungun bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Batak Simalungun 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 Simalungun:
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 Simalungun of Indonesia

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.
readGenesis 3:15

Pray that those without Christ will hear the words of Genesis 1-3 in their own language, and desire to know their Creator and His provision of salvation.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, ‘Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb’
readRevelation 7:9-10

Pray that many people will receive the gospel and will be part of the great multitude from every nation, tribe, people, and language, clothed in white robes and palm branches, proclaiming salvation belongs to our God.

The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
readLamentations 3:25

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will trust in the goodness of the Lord as they wait on Him to answer their cries for help.

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.
read1 Corinthians 9:20

Pray that believers from similar cultures will be compelled by Christ's love to reach people who don't know the gospel, and that those people will receive the good news with joy.

Batak Simalungun Across Countries (ROP3 - 101127) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Batak SimalungunPG022485Batak SimalungunIndonesia1,625,000No Longer UnreachedBatak SimalungunProtestantism

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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