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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
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Nias of Indonesia

The Nias of Indonesia, numbering approximately 1,190,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a dialect of Nias (nia), a language of Indonesia (Sumatra), off west coast of Sumatra, Nias and Batu islands. They are an Indigenous people, in the Batak-Nias of Sumatra people cluster of the Malay Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Protestantism. They primarily speak Nias.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Batak-Nias of Sumatra
Primary Language(s): Nias (nia)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Protestantism
Population: 1,190,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG022523
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Pray for the Nias of Indonesia

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Christianity - Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

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Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Nias
Language Family: Austronesian

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Media Resources in Nias:

Films:

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Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Nias:

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Nias bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Next steps for the Nias

The Nias are Unengaged and Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Next steps for the Nias

The Nias 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.

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

Next steps for the Nias

The Nias 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.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Nias of Indonesia

When he saw the crowds, he had compassion for them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.
readMatthew 9:36

Pray that those who have no hope and are in need of a Savior will be comforted by the Good Shepherd, who seeks to gather the lost and weary into His care.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
readPsalm 119:105

Pray that they will receive the Word of God as a lamp to their feet and commit their ways to Him.

Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.
readPsalm 34:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will see themselves as God sees them, with radiant faces and hearts that have been cleansed of all shame.

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
readActs 17:30

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will boldly and lovingly declare that God commands all people everywhere to repent.

Niassan (ROP3 - 107311) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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