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 Bajau of Indonesia

The Bajau of Indonesia, numbering approximately 189,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an ethnolinguistic community of Indonesia (Sulawesi) and can also be known as Sama-Bajau, Bajau Laut, Sea Gypsies. They are an Indigenous people, with Bajau as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Borneo-Kalimantan people cluster of the Malay Peoples. Their primary religion is Sunni Islam. They primarily speak Bajau, Indonesian.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Borneo-Kalimantan
Primary Language(s): Bajau, Indonesian (bdl)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 189,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022785
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Pray for the Bajau 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

99%
%

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bajau, Indonesian
Language Family: Austronesian

76%
%

Media Resources in Bajau, Indonesian:

Films:

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Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Bajau, Indonesian:

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Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Bajau, Indonesian bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 1), 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.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Pioneer Unreached People Group, (LPI: 1), 0.1% to 0.5% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Bajau:
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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Bajau 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.

Next steps for the Bajau:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Bajau 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 Bajau:
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 Bajau of Indonesia

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
readPsalm 67:3

Pray that those who are lost and unaware of God's blessings will come to know Him as the one true God, put their trust in Him, and join in praising Him among the nations.

"Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."
readIsaiah 1:18

Pray that God will make a way for the gospel to reach many through means they can understand and access, that they will receive the good news with joy, and that they will experience complete forgiveness and cleansing from their sin that Jesus offers through His sacrifice.

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope.
readPsalm 130:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will wait on the Lord and have patience and trust, knowing His ways and His timing are always perfect.

And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.
read2 Corinthians 12:28

Ask God to raise up believers who will faithfully proclaim the good news and equip others to do the same.

Bajau Across Countries (ROP3 - 100798) 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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