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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Dawei of Myanmar

The Dawei of Myanmar, numbering approximately 600,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an ethnolinguistic community of Myanmar They are an Indigenous people, with Tavoyan / Dawei as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Burmese people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples. They mostly adhere to Theravada Buddhism and Tavoyan is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Myanmar
People Cluster: Burmese
Primary Language(s): Tavoyan (tvn)
Primary Religion(s): Theravada Buddhism
Population: 600,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG048864
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Pray for the Dawei of Myanmar

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: Theravada Buddhism
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

99%
%
Theravada Buddhism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tavoyan
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

100%
%
Tavoyan Speakers

Media Resources in Tavoyan:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Tavoyan:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tavoyan bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Dawei 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 Dawei:
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 Dawei of Myanmar

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.
readMatthew 24:14

Pray that the message of hope will reach those who are wandering in darkness, offering them a path to eternal life.

No, I tell you; but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
readLuke 13:3

Pray that the lost will repent and believe the gospel, for without it, they will perish.

And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.
readJohn 14:3

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have hope in trials because they know that Jesus will one day take them to be with Him forever.

Now when they heard of the resurrection of the dead, some mocked. But others said, “We will hear you again about this.”
readActs 17:32

Ask God to give those He sends to cross cultures wisdom and discernment as they engage in spiritual conversations with those who are curious about the gospel.

Tavoyan Across Countries (ROP3 - 114965) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▼CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
DaweiPG048864DaweiMyanmar600,000Engaged yet UnreachedTavoyanTheravada 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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