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The Cambodian Khmer of United States

The Cambodian Khmer of United States, numbering approximately 197,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Khmer diaspora community in the United States, composed largely of refugees and their descendants who resettled after the Cambodian conflicts of the 1970s and who maintain cultural traditions rooted in Cambodia's Khmer heritage. They mostly adhere to Theravada Buddhism and Khmer is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: United States
People Cluster: Mon-Khmer
Primary Language(s): Khmer (khm)
Primary Religion(s): Theravada Buddhism
Population: 197,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG043301
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Pray for the Cambodian Khmer 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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Theravada Buddhism
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

86%
%
Theravada Buddhism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Khmer
Language Family: Austroasiatic

100%
%
Khmer Speakers

Media Resources in Khmer:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

3 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Khmer:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Khmer Standard Version✓✓
Old Version✓✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Khmer bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Cambodian Khmer 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 Cambodian Khmer:
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 Cambodian Khmer of United States

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.
readGenesis 3:15

Pray that those without Christ will hear the words of Genesis 1-3 in their own language, and desire to know their Creator and His provision of salvation.

Lead me in your truth and teach me, for you are the God of my salvation; for you I wait all the day long.
readPsalm 25:5

Pray that the gospel will advance and that God will lead people in His truth, bringing many to salvation.

So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth.
read1 Corinthians 3:7

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be unified in making disciples and be used by God to further His kingdom near and far.

For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
read2 Corinthians 1:5

When any who might believe suffer for the sake of the gospel, ask God to deepen their understanding of His grace so that they may share it freely with those who have not received it.

Khmer Across Countries (ROP3 - 104946) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

10 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▲
KhmerPG000170KhmerFrance72,000Engaged yet UnreachedKhmerTheravada Buddhism
Central KhmerPG010834Central KhmerThailand63,000Engaged yet UnreachedKhmerTheravada Buddhism
CambodianPG020249CambodianAustralia25,500Engaged yet UnreachedKhmerTheravada Buddhism
KhmerPG020438KhmerCambodia15,840,000Engaged yet UnreachedKhmerTheravada Buddhism
KhmerPG020907KhmerLaos5,800Unengaged and UnreachedKhmerTheravada Buddhism
Cambodian KhmerPG043301Cambodian KhmerUnited States197,000Engaged yet UnreachedKhmerTheravada Buddhism
KhmerPG043422KhmerCanada22,500Engaged yet UnreachedKhmerTheravada Buddhism
Khmer KromPG046652Khmer KromVietnam1,385,000Engaged yet UnreachedKhmerTheravada Buddhism
KhmerPG048520KhmerGermany13,000Unengaged and UnreachedKhmerTheravada Buddhism
KhmerPG048521KhmerUnited Kingdom1,300Unengaged and UnreachedKhmerTheravada 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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