The Rumai Palaung of Myanmar

The Rumai Palaung of Myanmar, numbering approximately 218,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a Palaung subgroup of Myanmar's northern Shan hills who settled the region before the Shan arrived from China in the twelfth century, sustaining themselves through tea cultivation on mountain slopes near Namhsan They are an Indigenous people, with Palaung as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Mon-Khmer people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples. They mostly adhere to Theravada Buddhism and Rumai Palaung is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Rumai Palaung

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Myanmar
People Cluster: Mon-Khmer
Primary Language(s): Rumai Palaung (rbb)
Primary Religion(s): Theravada Buddhism
Population: 218,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG022053
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Pray for the Rumai Palaung of Myanmar

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Theravada Buddhism
Religious Affiliation: Buddhism

95%
%
Theravada Buddhism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Rumai Palaung
Language Family: Austroasiatic

100%
%
Palaung, Rumai Speakers

Media Resources in Rumai Palaung:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Rumai Palaung:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Rumai Palaung bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Rumai Palaung 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 Rumai Palaung:
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 Rumai Palaung of Myanmar

Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
readProverbs 30:5

Pray that those who don't yet know God will trust the flawless Word of God and seek refuge in Him, finding hope and salvation instead of remaining in spiritual darkness.

"Come now, let us reason together, says the LORD: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool."
readIsaiah 1:18

Pray that God will make a way for the gospel to reach many through means they can understand and access, that they will receive the good news with joy, and that they will experience complete forgiveness and cleansing from their sin that Jesus offers through His sacrifice.

Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
readMatthew 18:19

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they find other believers to pray with, and that they will trust God to answer their requests according to His will.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
readJohn 1:12

Pray that believers will have the opportunity to clearly share the good news with the lost here, so that all people can be invited to trust in Jesus and become children of God.

Rumai Across Countries (ROP3 - 108436) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

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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