Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

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 Bacan of Indonesia

The Bacan of Indonesia, numbering approximately 3,800 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as a Malayic people of the Bacan Islands whose ancestors are thought to have migrated from Borneo and whose identity remains tied to Bacan Malay Bacan, Bacan Malay, Bacanese Malay They are an Indigenous people, with Malay as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Malay people cluster of the Malay Peoples. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and North Moluccan Malay is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Malay
Primary Language(s): North Moluccan Malay (max)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 3,800
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG022629
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Pray for the Bacan 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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

65%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: North Moluccan Malay
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Malay, North Moluccan Speakers

Media Resources in North Moluccan Malay:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in North Moluccan Malay:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Perjanjian Baru terjemahan Bahasa Melayu Maluku Utara✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the North Moluccan Malay bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Bacan 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 Bacan:
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 Bacan of Indonesia

For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens.
read1 Chronicles 16:26

Pray that those among them who are lost and seeking after worthless idols will have the opportunity to hear and respond to the good news, seeing that Jesus is better than any idol.

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst."
readJohn 6:35

Pray that the lost will come to Jesus and believe in Him, never to hunger or thirst again.

“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
readLamentations 3:24

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and walk through trials, they will be satisfied with the Lord as their portion and will place all their hope in Him.

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.
read3 John 1:2

Ask God to grant protection and good health — both physical and spiritual — to those He sends cross-culturally to share the gospel.

Malay, Bacanese Across Countries (ROP3 - 106150) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▼
BacanPG022629BacanIndonesia3,800No Longer UnreachedNorth Moluccan MalaySunni 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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