The Rwandans of Rwanda

The Rwandans of Rwanda, numbering approximately 13,940,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Banyarwanda people of the African Great Lakes region whose identity is rooted in a shared Kinyarwanda language and history that encompasses the Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa communities of Rwanda. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Kinyarwanda is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Rwandan

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Rwanda
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-Lakes
Primary Language(s): Kinyarwanda (kin)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 13,940,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG039283
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Rwandans of Rwanda

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: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

81%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kinyarwanda
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Kinyarwanda Speakers

Media Resources in Kinyarwanda:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

3 films

Bible Resources in Kinyarwanda:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Ikinyarwanda Cy'iki Gihe (Common) Interconfessional✓

1 entry

Or check out the Kinyarwanda bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Rwandans 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 Rwandans:
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 Rwandans of Rwanda

For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens.
readPsalm 96:5

Pray that those who are seeking after worthless idols will not be satisfied until they seek the truth and find it in Christ.

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
readMatthew 24:14

Pray that the gospel of God's kingdom will reach more people and that they will respond in faith, becoming disciples of Jesus Christ.

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.
readGenesis 50:20

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will forgive those who do them harm and trust God as they walk in His ways.

And Jesus said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men." And immediately they left their nets and followed him.
readMark 1:17-18

Pray that God will raise up believers from this place and/or other cultures nearby to proclaim the gospel to those who desperately need to encounter it.

Rwandan Across Countries (ROP3 - 108463) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

6 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