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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Burgher of Sri Lanka

The Burgher of Sri Lanka, numbering approximately 45,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Eurasian ethnic group in Sri Lanka descended from Dutch, British and other European men who settled in Sri Lanka and intermarried with Sri Lankan women. They are an Indigenous people in the Sinhala people cluster of the South Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Indo-Portuguese and their primary religion is Roman Catholicism.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Burgher

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: Sri Lanka
People Cluster: Sinhala
Primary Language(s): Indo-Portuguese (idb)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 45,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG006434
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Pray for the Burgher of Sri Lanka

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: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Indo-Portuguese
Language Family: Indo-European

78%
%
Indo-Portuguese Speakers

Media Resources in Indo-Portuguese:

Films:

No entries found for: Indo-Portuguese(idb). Help build some!

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Bible Resources in Indo-Portuguese:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Indo-Portuguese bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 2), 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.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Moderately Reached People Group, (LPI: 5), 6% to 20% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical (GSEC: 6), this people group is greater than or equal to 10% evangelical

Next steps for the Burgher:
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

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Burgher 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.

Next steps for the Burgher:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Burgher 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.

Next steps for the Burgher:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Burgher of Sri Lanka

Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.
readIsaiah 45:22

Pray for many lost people to turn to the Lord, finding forgiveness and salvation in Him, for He is the only way to true life and restoration.

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
readRomans 5:10

Pray that God will remove obstacles to the gospel so that many will see the hope He offers through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son, and be transformed from being enemies to being His friends.

Turn, O LORD, deliver my life; save me for the sake of your steadfast love.
readPsalm 6:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and still struggle with the worries of this life, God will deliver them from worry for the sake of His steadfast love.

Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.”
readPsalm 96:10

Pray for God to put in the hearts of believers to go to the lost and testify about the Lord who reigns.

Burgher Across Countries (ROP3 - 111732) 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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