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 Lepcha of India

The Lepcha of India, numbering approximately 109,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are the earliest documented settlers of Sikkim, originally hunter-gatherers following Bon-influenced animist traditions before adopting Tibetan Buddhism while retaining shamans who preside over births, marriages, and deaths. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Lepcha is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Tibetan Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Other Tibeto-Burmese
Primary Language(s): Lepcha (lep)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 109,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG041791
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Pray for the Lepcha of India

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: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

—
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Lepcha
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

74%
%
Lepcha Speakers

Media Resources in Lepcha:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Lepcha:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Lepcha bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Lepcha 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 Lepcha:
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 Lepcha of India

But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
readIsaiah 59:2

Pray that those who are separated from God will turn to Him in humility and repentance, seeking His forgiveness and the restoration of a right relationship with their Heavenly Father.

“I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ to a nation that was not called by my name."
readIsaiah 65:1

Pray that the lost will be found by God, even when they are not seeking Him. Pray that He will reveal Himself to them in a way they cannot ignore and that they will respond in faith.

Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
readPsalm 6:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and still struggle with the worries of this life, God will deliver them from worry for the sake of His steadfast love.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
readRomans 6:23

Pray that God will bring people to faith who are excited about the eternal life they have in Christ and will want to cross cultures to share this hope with others.

Lepcha Across Countries (ROP3 - 105723) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▼Religion
LepchaPG001231LepchaBhutan2,800No Longer UnreachedLepchaEthnoreligion
LepchaPG006247LepchaNepal4,800No Longer UnreachedLepchaTibetan Buddhism
LepchaPG041791LepchaIndia109,000No Longer UnreachedLepchaEthnoreligion

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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