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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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
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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.

Pray Now!
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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

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Buginese:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Buginese bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

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

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
readPsalm 9:9-10

Pray that God will help those who are oppressed and without hope to hear the good news of Jesus and trust in Him, for He has never forsaken those who seek Him.

Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.
readPsalm 119:97

Pray that the lost will have access to God's Word in their language and treasure it deeply, meditating on God's promises and precepts.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved.
readEphesians 2:4-5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember God's mercy and grace and experience joy as they walk in new life with Christ.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
readJohn 1:5

Pray that when discouraging days come, those who cross cultures for the sake of the gospel will be comforted as they remember that the light of Christ is stronger than the darkness that surrounds them.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
BuginesePG010691BugineseSingapore12,000Engaged yet UnreachedBugineseSunni Islam
BugisPG048662BugisMalaysia500,000Engaged yet UnreachedBugineseSunni Islam
BugisPG022796BugisIndonesia7,810,000Engaged yet UnreachedBugineseSunni 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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