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| What is a People
group? |
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| Where does
this information come from? |
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| I don't see a
people group on your site that I know exists. Why? |
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| What is the
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity? |
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| Why does
the Global Status of Evangelical Christianity emphasize church planting? |
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| What is an
Unreached People Group? |
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| What is a Last
Frontier People Group? |
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| What do you
mean by "Evangelical" Christians and churches? |
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| Why don't you
list the actual number of Christians and churches? |
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| Why are there
so many different lists of people groups, and how does the list of people
groups on this site compare with other lists of people groups? |
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| What is the
Registry of Peoples? |
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| Need help with
acronyms? |
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| Advanced Search
Help |
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| How can I get
the global list of people groups? |
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| Where can I find general country information? |
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What about external links on your website?
Do
I have permission to use Global
Research materials? |
Do
What do we do with your feedback? |
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| What is a People
group? |
For strategic purposes, a people group is the largest group through which the
gospel can flow without encountering significant barriers of understanding and
acceptance. For a more technical description . . .
Click here
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| Where does this
information come from? |
The Global Research Department (GRD) of
the International Mission Board, SBC
gathers and analyzes information collected through a global network of research
coordinators. These coordinators obtain information from approximately 5,500
IMB field personnel, local evangelical partners, and others. Much of
the information reflects primary research among people groups. In some
instances, secondary sources are used.
We partner with many different Evangelical organizations to compile information
on resource availability. Our information on Bible availability comes from
Wycliffe (www.wycliffe.org). We include Gospel
portions and the New Testament, as well as the whole Bible when we show a Bible
translation as available. For the specific status, please click on the language
or ROL code.
Information on the availability of the JESUS Film in a particular language
comes from The JESUS Film Project (www.jesusfilm.org)
and availability of Gospel Recordings is provided by the Global Recordings
Network (www.gospelrecordings.com). The
information on radio broadcasts in a particular language within a country is
from the Far East Broadcasting Company ( or
www.febc.org) and Trans World Radio (http://www.twr.org/).
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| I don't
see a people group on your site that I know exists. Why? |
First, the people group may be listed under another name in the database. Try
searching the alternate name field. If you still can't find it, click "Add
a People Group." Provide as much information as you can, along with
your sources. One or more of our field research coordinators will review the
information you submit, evaluate it in consultation with other researchers, and
modify the people group data as appropriate. In some cases, someone may contact
you for clarification or additional information.
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| What is the Global Status of Evangelical Christianity? |
The Global Status of Evangelical Christianity is a
model that describes the progress of the Gospel among the peoples of the world
by considering: 1. The extent to which a people group is Evangelical
. 2. Accessibility to the Gospel. 3. Church planting activity, whether
localized or widespread, within the past 2 years. The model establishes the
criteria for identifying those people groups described as "Unreached
People Groups" and the criteria for identifying the subset of the
world's "Unreached People Groups" described as "Last
Frontier People Groups."
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| Why does the
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity emphasize church planting? |
While Evangelical Christians do much good work every year
(e.g. radio broadcasts, literature distribution, relief and development,
evangelism, discipleship, etc.), we believe that the gathering of believers and
establishing of churches is the key to establishing effective long-term
evangelizing, discipling, nurturing, ministering presence among any given
people group.
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| What is an Unreached
People Group? |
An unreached people group is a people group in which less than 2% of the
population are Evangelical Christians.
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| What is a Last
Frontier People Group? |
A Last Frontier people group is an unreached people group that has not had a
new Evangelical church started among it
within the past two years.
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| What do you mean
by "Evangelical" Christians and churches? |
An Evangelical Christian is a person who believes that Jesus Christ is the sole
source of salvation through faith in Him, has personal faith and conversion
with regeneration by the Holy Spirit, recognizes the inspired word of God as
the only basis for faith and Christian living, and is committed to Biblical
preaching and evangelism that brings others to faith in Jesus Christ.
Therefore, an Evangelical church is a church that is characterized by these
same beliefs and principles. Some churches that are not considered Evangelical
in faith and practice, may contain members who are Evangelical.
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| Why don't you
list the actual number of Christians and churches? |
While this information is used to determine the Status
of Evangelization , security concerns prevent our sharing such
specifics on a public website. We anticipate that we will be able to display
this information later this year for many people groups for which
confidentiality is not necessary.
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| Why are there so
many different lists of people groups, and how does the list of people groups
on this site compare with other lists of people groups? |
Different lists of people groups reflect the different methodologies of the
researcher(s) and/or organizations that produce the lists. Some researchers use
language as the sole or primary factor in determining the existence of a people
group and its differentiation from other groups. Other researchers believe that
worldview or culture is an equally important factor. Some organizations simply
compile lists of people groups produced by other researchers, resulting in
inflated numbers of groups.
We adopt an ethnolinguistic approach to understanding people groups (see "What
is a people group?"). Our list is determined by
International Mission Board field personnel in ongoing dialogue with
local Baptist partners, Great Commission Christian partners, and other reliable
information sources (see "Where does this information come
from?"). The people group list and supplemental data is updated weekly
based on new information received from the field as well as on feedback
received through this site. See "What is the Registry of
Peoples?"
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| What is the Registry of
Peoples? |
The Registry of Peoples (ROP) (see
http:\\harvestinformationsystem.info) provides a comprehensive set of
codes for linking information from various major people group lists, including
those found on Peoplegroups.org. Thus, the ROP
is an essential tool for facilitating the exchange, comparison, and evaluation
of people group information from disparate sources. We urge organizations to
code their own people group information to ROP
codes.
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| Need help with acronyms? |
Click here...
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| Advanced Search
Help |
The first drop-down allows you to select the field you would like to search on.
If the field you would like to search on contains only numeric data, then your
next drop-down will contain eqality operators. You will use this in conjuction
with the textbox to its right in order to search for values greater than, less
than, or equal to the numeric value you enter in the textbox.
Once you have done this, simply press the submit button to submit your query.
If the field you selected contains alpha-numeric values, then you will see a
"does not" option appear to the right of the first drop-down. You can check
this box if the value you are going to enter in the textbox is a value you
would like to exclude from your search.
Your next drop-down presents you with two options, "Contains", and "Begins". If
the value you will enter in the textbox to search on constitutes the beginning
of the string you are searching for, then use the "Begins" option, otherwise,
use the "Contains" option.
Once you have done this, simply press the submit button to submit your query.
The last drop-down presents you with the options: "And", "Or". Once you select
either of these, you will see another field to search line appear. If you did
not want to search another field, you can simply select neither of the "and",
or the "or". This will reset the search to contain just the previous search
line(s).
You may search on up to three fields. After this, the And/Or drop-down will
disappear.
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| How can I get the global list
of people groups? |
You can download an Excel spreadsheet with the entire list of people groups and
data here.
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| Where can I find general
country information? |
Click on the country name or FIPS code from
any detail page. This will open a new browser window to
The World Factbook entry for the country you chose.
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| What about external links on your website? |
The presence of external links does not constitute an endorsement or support for the organizations that maintain the Web pages reached through the links; neither does it indicate a verification of the accuracy of, or agreement with, information contained therein.
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Do I have permission to use Global
Research materials? |
Yes. We
just ask that you credit the information. When referring to this
information, please include the following:
This information was
provided by The International Mission Board - Global Research,
Month 20XX, name of publication,
www.peoplegroups.org.
A word of caution:
This information has been collected
from multiple sources and is
continuously subject to adjustments
and refinements based upon the
highly dynamic nature of today’s
global environment and the rapid
advance of the Gospel in literally
every part of the world. This
information is shared with others on
the condition that the user assumes
all risks incident to reliance and
has the right to make an independent
assessment of its accuracy and
reliability. Have questions? Visit
our Feedback
page. This information is
provided for the intended use only.
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What do we do with your feedback? |
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As people, churches, and organizations use our people group list around the world, they will no doubt find that some changes are needed; we welcome their observations and suggestions. We prefer firsthand, well-documented information whenever possible. We feel that when it comes to people groups, all peoples have a right to characterize themselves by people name, language and dialect preference, worldview, and other elements that make them unique. The following process guides us when someone contact peoplegroups.org. We ask that those providing feedback use the feedback link found at
http://www.peoplegroups.org/Feedback.aspx.
1. Upon receipt of feedback, the Global Research Information Center will confirm that the feedback includes basic information needed for consideration and will log the information provided along with a contact name.
2. GRIC will assign the feedback to a staff liaison(s) in the Global Research Department responsible for relating to the region(s) of the world relevant to the feedback.
3. The liaison will initiate a dialogue with the appropriate regional research coordinator (RRC).
4. The RRC will seek to verify the
feedback offered to determine if
there are sufficient grounds to
modify our information based upon
the feedback.
- If a change is needed, the regional research coordinator will change the data and upload it to the database.
- If a change is not needed, the list will be left as is.
Note: The regional research coordinator may or may not contact the feedback provider during this time.
5. The GRD liaison will notify the feedback provider of the decision reached by the field about the feedback.
All correspondence concerning the feedback is preserved in case questions arise, or in the event similar feedback is received in the future. Additionally, various steps in the process are logged, and GRIC monitors the log to ensure that resolution occurs in a timely fashion.
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