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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Eastern Pwo Karen of Myanmar

The Eastern Pwo Karen of Myanmar, numbering approximately 1,270,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic subgroup of the Karen, an ethnic group indigenous to Kayin State in southeastern Myanmar. They mostly adhere to Animism and Pwo Eastern Karen is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Karen, Pwo Eastern

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Myanmar
People Cluster: Karen
Primary Language(s): Pwo Eastern Karen (kjp)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 1,270,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG046601
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Pray for the Eastern Pwo Karen of Myanmar

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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

51%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Pwo Eastern Karen
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

100%
%
Karen, Pwo Eastern Speakers

Media Resources in Pwo Eastern Karen:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Pwo Eastern Karen:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Pwo Eastern Karen bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Eastern Pwo Karen 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 Eastern Pwo Karen:
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 Eastern Pwo Karen of Myanmar

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
readJohn 3:17

Pray for those who are living under the burdens of man-made religion to learn about the freedom Jesus offers them and turn to Him in faith.

Seek the LORD while he may be found; call upon him while he is near.
readIsaiah 55:6

Pray that the lost will seek the Lord while He may be found and call upon Him while He is near, for He is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.

But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our lowly body to be like his glorious body, by the power that enables him even to subject all things to himself.
readPhilippians 3:20-21

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember their citizenship is in heaven.

And he said to them, "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."
readLuke 10:2

Ask God to send out laborers into His harvest field, raising up believers from around the world to go and proclaim the kingdom of God with those who need to hear it.

Karen, Pwo Eastern Across Countries (ROP3 - 104659) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Eastern Pwo KarenPG046601Eastern Pwo KarenMyanmar1,270,000Engaged yet UnreachedPwo Eastern KarenAnimism
KarenPG043753KarenAustralia4,200Engaged yet UnreachedPwo Eastern KarenProtestantism
Pwo KarenPG050363Pwo KarenUnited States200Engaged yet UnreachedPwo Eastern KarenAnimism

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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