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 Laiyolo of Indonesia

The Laiyolo of Indonesia, numbering approximately 1,700 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Indigenous Austronesian people of southern Selayar Island in South Sulawesi, centered on Laiyolo in Bontosikuyu and closely associated with the Laiyolo, Lowa, and Barang-Barang varieties. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Laiyolo is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Indonesia
People Cluster: Tukangbesi of Sulawesi
Primary Language(s): Laiyolo (lji)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 1,700
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022826
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Pray for the Laiyolo 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

98%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Laiyolo
Language Family: Austronesian

76%
%
Laiyolo Speakers

Media Resources in Laiyolo:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Laiyolo:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Laiyolo bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Laiyolo 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 Laiyolo:
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 Laiyolo of Indonesia

During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
readExodus 2:23-24

As the lost among them labor, groan, and cry out under false religions and sin, pray God will have mercy on them and hear their cries, that He will be their Rescuer from the kingdom of darkness and bring them into the kingdom of light.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
readJohn 3:16

Pray that the lost will seek God and learn that they have a heavenly Father who loves them and wants them to live eternally with Him.

And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
readRomans 10:15

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be eager to proclaim the good news of peace, knowing that the Lord has called them to this task.

To the Jews I became as a Jew, in order to win Jews. To those under the law I became as one under the law (though not being myself under the law) that I might win those under the law.
read1 Corinthians 9:20

Pray that believers from similar cultures will be compelled by Christ's love to reach people who don't know the gospel, and that those people will receive the good news with joy.

Laiyola Across Countries (ROP3 - 105582) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group ID ▲NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
LaiyoloPG022826LaiyoloIndonesia1,700Engaged yet UnreachedLaiyoloSunni 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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