The Portuguese of United States

The Portuguese of United States, numbering approximately 863,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Southwestern European people native to Portugal whose culture has been shaped by Atlantic maritime traditions, the Iberian environment, Roman and medieval influences, Roman Catholic heritage, and centuries of overseas exploration and global exchange. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Portuguese is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: United States
People Cluster: Portuguese, European
Primary Language(s): Portuguese (por)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 863,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG046462
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Pray for the Portuguese 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

91%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Portuguese
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Portuguese Speakers

Media Resources in Portuguese:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

5 films

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Portuguese are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Portuguese:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Portuguese of United States

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,' and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.
readPsalm 32:5

Pray those who are lost will realize their sin, confess their iniquity, and grow in their understanding of salvation through faith in Christ alone.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
read1 John 1:5

As mobile phones, radio, and satellite television, and other technologies become more available worldwide, pray for people who are developing digital gospel resources so that others can easily access the gospel.

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
readActs 2:42

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will devote themselves to God's Word, to fellowship with each other, and to prayer.

To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel.
readEphesians 6:18b-19

Ask God to give believers He sends to the lost of this people group the boldness and clarity to proclaim the mystery of the gospel in a way that people can understand.

Portuguese Across Countries (ROP3 - 108129) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

20 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress Index ▼LanguageReligion
PortuguesePortugueseMacao10,500No Longer UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseUnited States863,000No Longer UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseCanada309,000No Longer UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseArgentina18,000No Longer UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseVenezuela240,000No Longer UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseFrance984,000No Longer UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseZimbabwe15,500Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseZambia3,900Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseSouth Africa1,090,000Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseMozambique28,500Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseMalawi21,500Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseUnited Kingdom177,000Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseSwitzerland269,000Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseSpain93,500Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortuguesePortugal9,525,000Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseLuxembourg103,000Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseGermany143,000Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseBelgium56,500Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseAndorra11,500Unengaged and UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseGuinea-Bissau6,600Unengaged and UnreachedPortugueseRoman 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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