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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Sri Lanken of Italy

The Sri Lanken of Italy, numbering approximately 115,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a culturally rich and historically significant ethnic group in Sri Lanka, known for their Sinhala language, Theravada Buddhist traditions, and influential role in shaping the island's cultural and political landscape. They mostly adhere to Theravada Buddhism and Sinhala is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite: Sri Lanken

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: Italy
People Cluster: Sinhala
Primary Language(s): Sinhala (sin)
Primary Religion(s): Theravada Buddhism
Population: 115,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG042326
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Pray for the Sri Lanken of Italy

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: Theravada Buddhism
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

95%
%
Theravada Buddhism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sinhala
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Sinhala Speakers

Media Resources in Sinhala:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Sinhala:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Sinhala bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Sri Lanken:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Pray specifically for the Sri Lanken of Italy

That they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.
readActs 17:27

Pray that those who don't yet know Christ will search diligently for God and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.

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.

For you are great and do wondrous things; you alone are God. Teach me your way, O Lord, that I may walk in your truth; unite my heart to fear your name.
readPsalm 86:10-11

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will trust in the Lord with all their heart, knowing that He is the one true God and will teach them His ways.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns”
readIsaiah 52:7

Pray that God will provide open doors for believers who cross cultures to share the good news of salvation with those who need it. Pray that He will give them joy as they see Him move.

Sinhalese Across Countries (ROP3 - 109305) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

11 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▼CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Sri LankenPG042326Sri LankenItaly115,000Unengaged and UnreachedSinhalaTheravada Buddhism
SinhalesePG006165SinhaleseMaldives4,000No Longer UnreachedSinhalaTheravada Buddhism
SinhalesePG006441SinhaleseSri Lanka17,690,000Engaged yet UnreachedSinhalaTheravada Buddhism
SinhalesePG010722SinhaleseSingapore23,500Unengaged and UnreachedSinhalaTheravada Buddhism
SinhalesePG010919SinhaleseThailand8,200Unengaged and UnreachedSinhalaTheravada Buddhism
SinhalesePG012253SinhaleseUnited Arab Emirates179,000Engaged yet UnreachedSinhalaTheravada Buddhism
SinhalesePG018261SinhaleseMalaysia36,500No Longer UnreachedSinhalaTheravada Buddhism
SinhalesePG043470SinhaleseCanada18,000Engaged yet UnreachedSinhalaTheravada Buddhism
SinhalesePG046413SinhaleseOman53,000Engaged yet UnreachedSinhalaTheravada Buddhism
SinhalesePG046417SinhaleseQatar56,500Engaged yet UnreachedSinhalaTheravada Buddhism
SinhalesePG047303SinhaleseUnited States30,500Engaged yet UnreachedSinhalaTheravada Buddhism

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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