The Croats of United States

The Croats of United States, numbering approximately 190,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a South Slavic people native to Croatia and neighboring regions of the western Balkans, whose culture has been shaped by the interaction of Central European, Mediterranean, and Balkan traditions, as well as a long association with Roman Catholicism. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Croatian is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Croats

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: United States
People Cluster: Slav, Southern
Primary Language(s): Croatian (hrv)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 190,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG043214
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Croats of United States

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

92%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Croatian
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Croatian Speakers

Media Resources in Croatian:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Croatian:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Knjiga O Kristu✓
Vuk Karadzic version✓

2 entries

Or check out the Croatian bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Croats 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 Croats:
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 Croats of United States

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.

Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.
readPsalm 96:2

Pray that gospel resources will reach this generation so that they will receive the good news and sing to the LORD, bless His name, and tell of His salvation each day.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
readEphesians 6:10-11

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will grow strong in His power, putting on the full armor of God, which will enable them to stand against the devil’s lies.

For as in one body we have many members, and the members do not all have the same function, so we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another.
readRomans 12:4-5

Ask God to send believers to people in other cultures and to help them use their gifts in harmony with others so that the body of Christ may be built up.

Croat Across Countries (ROP3 - 102315) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

10 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▲NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
CroatsCroatsAustria71,500Unengaged and UnreachedCroatianRoman Catholicism
CroatsCroatsSweden9,300Unengaged and UnreachedCroatianRoman Catholicism
CroatsCroatsBosnia and Herzegovina505,000Engaged yet UnreachedCroatianRoman Catholicism
CroatsCroatsCroatia3,625,000Engaged yet UnreachedCroatianRoman Catholicism
CroatsCroatsAustralia57,000Engaged yet UnreachedCroatianRoman Catholicism
CroatsCroatsNorth Macedonia2,400Engaged yet UnreachedCroatianRoman Catholicism
CroatsCroatsGermany416,000Engaged yet UnreachedCroatianRoman Catholicism
CroatsCroatsUnited States190,000Engaged yet UnreachedCroatianRoman Catholicism
CroatsCroatsSlovenia77,500Unengaged and UnreachedCroatianRoman Catholicism
CroatsCroatsMontenegro6,900Unengaged and UnreachedCroatianRoman Catholicism

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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