The Kurtop of Bhutan

The Kurtop of Bhutan, numbering approximately 19,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Bhutan and can also be known as Kurtobi Zhake, Kurthopka, Gurtu, Kurthopkha, Kurteopkha, Kurtokha, Kürthöpka, Kurtopakha, Kurtobikha, Kurtopa. They are an Indigenous people, in the Bhutanese people cluster of the Tibetan Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Buddhism - Tibetan. They primarily speak Kurtokha.

Kurtop in Bhutan photo
Photo by Google. (2025). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Kurtop

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: Bhutan
People Cluster: Bhutanese
Primary Language(s): Kurtokha (xkz)
Primary Religion(s): Buddhism - Tibetan
Population: 19,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG001230

Pray for the Kurtop of Bhutan

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Buddhism - Tibetan
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

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Buddhism - Tibetan Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kurtokha
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

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Kurtokha Speakers

Media Resources in Kurtokha:

Films:

No entries found for: Kurtokha(xkz). Help build some!

Bible Resources in Kurtokha:

Or check out the Kurtokha bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Next steps for the Kurtop

The Kurtop 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 Kurtop

The Kurtop 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 Kurtop

The Kurtop 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 Kurtop of Bhutan

All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.
readRomans 3:12

Pray that those who are enslaved to sin will admit their need for a Savior, acknowledging that no one is righteous.

Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
readPsalm 96:7

Pray that entire households will come to faith in Jesus and that God will bless their families with faith in Him for generations to come.

Know that the Lord, he is God! It is he who made us, and we are his; we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture. Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!
readPsalm 100:3-4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be in awe of the Lord God, their Creator, and will give Him thanksgiving and praise.

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few; therefore pray earnestly to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest."
readMatthew 9:37-38

Pray that the Lord of the harvest will raise up believers to send out into His harvest field, which is ripe and ready.

Kurteop (ROP3 - 105463) 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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