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The Sikkimese Bhotia of Bhutan

The Sikkimese Bhotia of Bhutan, numbering approximately 4,600 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Tibeto-Burman ethnic group indigenous to the Transhimalayan region that separates India and Nepal from Tibet. They mostly adhere to Tibetan Buddhism and Sikkimese is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Tibetan Peoples
Country: Bhutan
People Cluster: Tibetan
Primary Language(s): Sikkimese (sip)
Primary Religion(s): Tibetan Buddhism
Population: 4,600
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG042386
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Pray for the Sikkimese Bhotia of Bhutan

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: Tibetan Buddhism
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

99%
%
Tibetan Buddhism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sikkimese
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

75%
%
Sikkimese Speakers

Media Resources in Sikkimese:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Sikkimese:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Sikkimese 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): Expanding Unreached People Group, (LPI: 2), 0.5% or Greater but Less than 2% 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 Sikkimese Bhotia:
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 Sikkimese Bhotia of Bhutan

The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer.
readPsalm 6:9

Pray that lost people will hear the gospel and place their faith in Christ, knowing that He hears their plea and accepts their prayer.

And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
readActs 6:7

Pray that the Word of God will be increasingly available to these people in ways they will resonate with so that all may have a chance to respond to the good news of Jesus Christ.

Through him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in hope of the glory of God.
readRomans 5:2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will rejoice in the hope of glory and be in awe of God's mercy that gives them access to Him through faith.

And when Jesus finished these sayings, the crowds were astonished at his teaching, for he was teaching them as one who had authority, and not as their scribes.
readMatthew 7:28-29

Pray that God will remind believers that they have His authority as they share His truth with the lost, and pray He will draw crowds of people to this message and plant it deeply in their hearts.

Bhotia Across Countries (ROP3 - 111608) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▼
Sikkimese BhotiaPG042386Sikkimese BhotiaBhutan4,600Unengaged and UnreachedSikkimeseTibetan Buddhism
BhotiaPG006180BhotiaNepal33,500Engaged yet UnreachedDzongkhaFolk Buddhism
BhutiaPG041587BhutiaIndia258,000Engaged yet UnreachedSherpaEthnoreligion

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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