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
Portuguese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Español | Tagalog / Filipino
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The Kau of Indonesia

The Kau of Indonesia, numbering approximately 550 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an Indigenous people of North Halmahera's northern coast in North Maluku whose traditional Kao language is Papuan but has been strongly influenced by neighboring Austronesian languages. They mostly adhere to Animism and Indonesian is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Maluku-Northern
Primary Language(s): Indonesian (ind)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 550
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG022669
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Pray for the Kau 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: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

52%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Indonesian
Language Family: Austronesian

90%
%
Indonesian Speakers

Media Resources in Indonesian:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

4 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Indonesian:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Indonesian New Translation (formal) Version, 1974✓✓✓
Indonesian New Translation (formal) Version, 1974✓✓
Plain Indonesian Translation✓✓
Sehari-hari✓
Shellabear NT Kitab Suci Injil (Terjemahan 1912)✓✓✓
Shellabear OT Association for the Restoration of the 1912 Translation✓✓

6 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Indonesian bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Kau 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 Kau:
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 Kau of Indonesia

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
readMatthew 11:28

Pray for those who are tired, weary, and burdened by the weight of sin to encounter Jesus and experience the rest that only He can give.

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.”
readRevelation 4:11

Pray that the good news will advance and people will recognize and worship the One who created all things by His will, giving glory and honor to Him alone.

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
read2 Corinthians 12:10

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will embrace their weaknesses, hardships, and difficulties, having hope because Christ's power is made perfect in their weakness.

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
readEphesians 6:13

Pray that God will send believers to the lost of this people group and that, as they share the gospel, they will take up the whole armor of God so that they can stand firm when trials come.

Kau Across Countries (ROP3 - 112461) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
KauPG022669KauIndonesia550No Longer UnreachedIndonesianAnimism

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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