The two definitions
| Term | Definition |
|---|---|
| Unreached people group | A people group without an indigenous Christian community with sufficient numbers and resources to make the Gospel known throughout the group without outside assistance. |
| Frontier people group | An unreached people group with virtually no Christian presence and no confirmed, sustained movement to Jesus; Joshua Project approximates this as 0.1% or fewer Christian adherents. |
Why the distinction matters
Every frontier group is unreached, but not every unreached group is frontier. In an unreached group there may be a small church — believers who need partners, training and Scripture. In a frontier group there is usually no church at all, so someone from outside has to go and begin. Frontier groups hold about 1.9 billion people, about 53% of the 3.6 billion living in unreached groups.
That is why the frontier is where prayer, sending and Bible translation are most urgently needed — and where a single new believer can be the start of a whole people's church.
Frontier and unreached peoples profiled here
Related questions
Is every frontier people group unreached?
Yes. Frontier people groups are the subset of unreached groups with virtually no Christians (0.1% or fewer) and no known movement to Jesus.
Who defines unreached and frontier people groups?
The most widely used definitions and counts come from Joshua Project, which this site uses for its people-group figures.