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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
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The Yakan of Philippines

The Yakan of Philippines, numbering approximately 215,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Filipino Muslim ethnolinguistic group indigenous to the Sulu Archipelago in southwestern Philippines. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Yakan is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Philippines
People Cluster: Filipino, Muslim
Primary Language(s): Yakan (yka)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 215,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG007812
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Pray for the Yakan of Philippines

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: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Yakan
Language Family: Austronesian

70%
%
Yakan Speakers

Media Resources in Yakan:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Yakan:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2019 Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Yakan bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Yakan 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 Yakan:
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

Pray specifically for the Yakan of Philippines

"I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world."
readJohn 16:33

Pray that those who don't have peace with God will find peace in Christ, even amid the troubles of this world.

Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia."
readRomans 16:5

Pray for houses to be meeting places for Christians and that God will advance the gospel and grow His Church through natural familial and community relationships.

The LORD is good to those who wait for him, to the soul who seeks him.
readLamentations 3:25

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will trust in the goodness of the Lord as they wait on Him to answer their cries for help.

And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
readRomans 10:15

Pray that God will call many believers who will obediently go and share the gospel with those who desperately need it.

Yakan Across Countries (ROP3 - 110934) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
YakanPG007812YakanPhilippines215,000Engaged yet UnreachedYakanSunni Islam
YacanPG009374YacanMalaysia16,500Unengaged and UnreachedYakanSunni Islam

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 Data Standards section.

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