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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Oriya of India

The Oriya of India, numbering approximately 43,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an Indo-Aryan ethnolinguistic group indigenous to the Indian state of Odisha They are an Indigenous people, in the Odia people cluster of the South Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Hinduism. They primarily speak Odia.

Oriya in United States photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Copyrighted ©️ 2025 Kerry Olson Used with permission

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Odia
Primary Language(s): Odia (ory)
Primary Religion(s): Hinduism
Population: 43,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG049025
View on Joshua Project

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Pray for the Oriya of India

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: Hinduism
Religious Affiliation: Hinduism

%
Hinduism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Odia
Language Family: Indo-European

%
Odia Speakers

Media Resources in Odia:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Odia:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Odia bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Oriya

The Oriya are Unengaged and Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Next steps for the Oriya

The Oriya 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.

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

Next steps for the Oriya

The Oriya 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.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Oriya of India

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.

“I was ready to be sought by those who did not ask for me; I was ready to be found by those who did not seek me. I said, ‘Here I am, here I am,’ to a nation that was not called by my name."
readIsaiah 65:1

Pray that the lost will be found by God, even when they are not seeking Him. Pray that He will reveal Himself to them in a way they cannot ignore and that they will respond in faith.

And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.
read2 Corinthians 12:28

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will grow in the spiritual gifts God has given them and use these gifts to glorify Him and build up the Church.

I will give thanks to you, O Lord, among the peoples; I will sing praises to you among the nations.
readPsalm 57:9

Pray that God will raise up believers among them who will boldly go and share the gospel with people nearby and with those far away.

Oriya (ROP3 - 113276) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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