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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Karen of Australia

The Karen of Australia, numbering approximately 4,200 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an ethnolinguistic subgroup of the Karen, an ethnic group of Sino-Tibetan language-speaking people indigenous to the Kayin State in southeastern Myanmar They are an Diaspora people, with Karen as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Karen people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Pwo Eastern Karen is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Australia
People Cluster: Karen
Primary Language(s): Pwo Eastern Karen (kjp)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 4,200
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG043753

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Pray for the Karen of Australia

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: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Pwo Eastern Karen
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

100%
%
Karen, Pwo Eastern Speakers

Media Resources in Pwo Eastern Karen:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Pwo Eastern Karen:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Pwo Eastern Karen bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Karen 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 Karen:
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 Karen of Australia

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
readPsalm 73:26

Pray that those who are lost and struggling to find hope will find their strength and hope in God, recognizing Him as their portion and deliverer forever.

Oh, taste and see that the LORD is good! Blessed is the man who takes refuge in him!
readPsalm 34:8

Pray that the gospel will advance and that many will have the opportunity to taste and see the goodness of God and entrust their lives to Him.

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
readPhilippians 3:20-21

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember their citizenship is in heaven.

Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm.
readEphesians 6:13

Pray that God will send believers to the lost of this people group and that, as they share the gospel, they will take up the whole armor of God so that they can stand firm when trials come.

Karen, Pwo Eastern Across Countries (ROP3 - 104659) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountry ▼PopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Pwo KarenPG050363Pwo KarenUnited States200Engaged yet UnreachedPwo Eastern KarenAnimism
Eastern Pwo KarenPG046601Eastern Pwo KarenMyanmar1,270,000Engaged yet UnreachedPwo Eastern KarenAnimism
KarenPG043753KarenAustralia4,200Engaged yet UnreachedPwo Eastern KarenProtestantism

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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