What a "people group" is
A people group is the largest community through which the Gospel can spread without meeting a barrier of understanding or acceptance — usually defined by a shared language, ethnicity and identity. It is the unit Jesus' commission points to: make disciples of all the ethnē, the peoples, not only the countries.
Researchers draw the lines differently. Joshua Project counts peoples separately in each country they live in, and in South Asia it counts many caste and community groups separately, which is why some countries have hundreds or thousands. Other databases group peoples more broadly and arrive at smaller totals.
The countries with the most people groups
| Rank | Nation | People groups | Unreached |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | India | 2,600 | 2,100 |
| 2 | Indonesia | 780 | 230 |
| 3 | Nigeria | 560 | 100 |
| 4 | China | 545 | 427 |
| 5 | United States | 480 | 60 |
| 6 | Pakistan | 460 | 400 |
| 7 | Canada | 422 | 79 |
| 8 | Bangladesh | 395 | 340 |
| 9 | Nepal | 350 | 290 |
| 10 | Mexico | 300 | 20 |
Some of the largest unreached peoples
Related questions
Which country has the most people groups?
Among the nations profiled here, India has the most, with about 2,600 people groups as Joshua Project counts them.
Why do counts of people groups differ?
Researchers draw boundaries between peoples differently — by language, ethnicity, caste or country — so totals from different databases can differ by thousands.