The Bugis of Indonesia

The Bugis of Indonesia, numbering approximately 7,810,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a South Sulawesi people with a centuries-old maritime and interisland trading tradition, whose migrations established Bugis communities across the Malay Archipelago. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Buginese is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Bugi-Makassar of Sulawesi
Primary Language(s): Buginese (bug)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 7,810,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022796
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Bugis 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

95%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Buginese
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Bugis Speakers

Media Resources in Buginese:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Buginese:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Buginese bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Bugis 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 Bugis:
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

Pray specifically for the Bugis of Indonesia

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
readJohn 14:6

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will recognize Him as the only way to the Father and follow Him in faith.

And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, ‘This is the way, walk in it,’ when you turn to the right or when you turn to the left.
readIsaiah 30:21

As the lost in this people group seek to know the truth of who God is, pray that the Spirit of God will draw them to Himself and guide them in the way they should go.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
readPsalm 51:10

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will quickly repent when they sin and walk with clean hearts and right spirits as they grow in their relationship with the Lord.

And he said to them, “Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times more in this time, and in the age to come eternal life.”
readLuke 18:29-30

Pray that God will raise up people to go and share the gospel and help them trust His promise that anyone who has left those they treasure for the sake of the kingdom of God will receive many times more in this life and in the life to come.

Bugis Across Countries (ROP3 - 101703) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 people groups

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.

Scroll to Top