Unreached People Groups
of North America

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Unreached People Groups of North America

UPGNorthAmerica.com seeks to mobilize prayer warriors and laborers among the most significant unreached people group communities in North America. God has provided a unique opportunity in this age of mass migration and technological connection. UPGNorthAmerica.com helps the unreached people groups in North America become visible. Once Christians know more about them and have seen them (even if virtually), barriers are broken, bridges are created, and a sense of responsibility is gained as we become aware of the open doors for the gospel before us. 

Turkish man in Chicago

Afghans

Indian Hindi

Somalis

Turkish man in Chicago

Turks

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Map of the Most Significant Unreached
People Group Communities in North America

This dynamic map is automatically updated from the UPG Priority Matrix. The UPG Priority Matrix identifies the most significant unreached people group communities in North America for whom prayer and laborers are needed (Luke 10:2). The icons on the map represent an unreached people group’s primary religious identity: Muslim, Sikh, Jewish, Buddhist, or Hindu. You can select an icon for more details about a particular unreached people group community. You can also filter the map however you would like using the filter tool (use Ctrl/Cmd to select multiple options). For a short explanation of the filter categories, expand the module below. For a longer explanation of the UPG Priority Matrix, visit this FAQ page from Global Gates.

Explanation of Map Filter Categories

People Group

The primary identity of the unreached people group. In North America, sometimes the group more strongly identifies, organizes, and socializes on a nationalistic level (e.g., Pakistani) more than a purely ethno-linguistic level (e.g., Sindhi). Sometimes the people group name is associated more with language than an actual people group identity because of people’s tendency to organize around those who speak the same primary language (e.g., Indian Hindi).

Priority Score

The priority score is factored using the following weighted categories: the people group’s population size in a city, amount of Christians among that people group in the city, amount of ministry being done among that people group in the city, amount of churches started for that people group in the city, the global significance of a people group’s presence in a city, and the people group’s global status of evangelical Christianity. The higher the score, the more that people group is in need of prayer and gospel laborers.

Primary Religion

This category simply identifies the primary religious identity of a people group (e.g., even though a significant minority of Bangledeshis are Hindu, the majority of Bangladeshis identify as Muslim and thus appear under Muslim).

Primary Country of Origin

This category indicates the primary country from which a people group originates. In our modern world, people are sometimes migrating multiple times before arriving in North America. We are identifying not necessarily from where a people group is migrating from but where they originate. For example, many Tibetans migrate from India and Nepal to North America, but their primary country of origin, at least on a globally recognized geo-political level, is China.

Region of Origin

The region of origin is the general region of the world from which a people group originates in recent history. For example, many of the Jewish groups on the list are under Europe.

GSEC Score

The Global Status of Evangelical Christianity index number is listed under the people group’s profile on peoplegroups.org (and sometimes joshuaproject.net). On these sites, we look at the GSEC score for the country where the people group’s population is largest for the best representation of a global number. We then enter a score on our Matrix from 0-100 based on the GSEC score (GSEC 0=100, GSEC 1=65-95, GSEC 2=35-60, GSEC 3=5-30).

The Global Status of Evangelical Christianity scores are as follows:

0 = No evangelical Christians or churches. No access to evangelical print, audio, visual or human resources.

1 = Less than 2 percent evangelical. Some evangelical resources available. No active church planting within the past two years.

2 = Less than 2 percent evangelical. Initial or localized church planting within the past two years.

3 = Less than 2 percent evangelical. Dispersed or widespread church planting within the past two years.

Population Size in City

This category identifies the estimated population size of the people group in a particular metropolitan area. A people group has to number at least 5,000 in a metropolitan area to make this list and map (i.e., we are not identifying all unreached people group communities in North America, only those that are most in need of prayer and laborers). For information on people groups smaller in size, try searching on peoplegroups.info.

Churches Started in City

One of the ways to identify unreached people groups is there are no, or too few, local churches in which a people group can be easily incorporated. Therefore, this category measures church planting efforts in a metropolitan area to see if there are:

  • No churches remotely similar in culture to an unreached people group. Matrix score = 100.
  • Non-evangelistic or near-culture churches to an unreached people group (e.g., a Syrian Arab Christian-background church might speak the same, or similar language, as Egyptian Arab Muslims but would not easily incorporate an Egyptian Muslim-background family, or even a Syrian Arab Muslim-background family, because of cultural difference and/or animosity toward Muslim-background people). Matrix score = 60-95.
  • At least one evangelistic church that could easily incorporate the focused people group (e.g., a Bangla-speaking church w/ over one-half of their members being recent Muslim-background converts would likely be active evangelists among Bangladeshi Muslims and able to incorporate new believers into their fellowship or start new churches among them). Matrix score = 40-55.
  • Several evangelistic churches among the people group who are actively evangelizing their people and could easily incorporate new believers into their churches or start new churches among them. If several evangelical churches exist among a people group in a specific metropolitan area, the need for cross-cultural workers is greatly diminished. Matrix score = 15-35.
  • A church planting movement is taking place among an unreached people group in a metropolitan area. That is, disciples and churches are multiplying rapidly with indigenous leadership. If such a movement is taking place, cross-cultural evangelists are not needed. In fact, they could actually hinder the movement. Matrix score = 5-10.
Map Legend

= Muslim

= Hindu

= Sikh

= Buddhist

= Jewish

People Group
Priority Score
Primary Religion
Primary Country of Origin
Region of Origin
GSEC Score
Population Size in City
Churches Started in City
  

100,000 Yemenis

Statistics Canada 2021 counted 8,115 people whose ethnic origin was Yemeni. The 2019 American Community Survey counted 58,627 people born in Yemen now living in the United States. Counting U.S.-born children and typical undercounts of Arabs in the census, it is safe to assume there are at least 100,000 Yemenis in North America. The Wikipedia article on Yemeni Americans claims "there are an estimated 100,000-200,000 Yemenis living in the United States as of 2018,” but no source is given for that statistic.

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350,000 Bosniaks

The Congress of Bosniaks of North America estimate 300,000 Bosniaks live in the United States and 50,000 in Canada.

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300,000 Somalis

The America Community Survey 2019 estimated 182,951 people reporting Somali ancestry in the United States. Statistics Canada 2021 estimated 65,555 people o Somali ethnic origin in Canada. Census figures tend to undercount groups like Somalis, who are suspicious of government authorities and census takers. Community estimates of Somalis in the Greater Toronto and Edmonton areas alone number 100,000. An estimated 300,000 Somalis in North America is a conservative estimate, and their population number could be much higher.

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900,000to 1,500,000 Sikhs

In the 2021 Canada census, 771,790 Sikhs were estimated to live in Canada. The United States does not count religious affiliation in its census, and the language of Punjabi is also spoken by Hindus and Muslims, which makes "language spoken at home" a difficult category for measuring Sikhs. However, the 2012 Pew Religious Survey indicates 5% of Indian Americans are Sikh. The 2019 American Community Survey estimated 4,240,466 Asian Indians living in the United States, and 5% of that population equals 212,023. The Sikh America Coalition, however, estimates 500,000 Sikhs living in the United States. Therefore, low estimates of Sikhs in North America are around 900,000 with high estimates around 1.5 million.

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400,000 Afghans

The diversity of the people groups who identify as Afghans contributes to the difficulty of using census information to estimate the number of Afghans in North America. The American Community Survey 2019 counted 156,434 people in the United States with "Afghan" ancestry. However, some Afghans would identify their ancestry as Tajik, Pashtun, and so forth. Statistics Canada 2021 counted 96,810 people with Ethnic Origin as Afghan, 9,825 as Pashtun, and 5,890 as Tajik. So, adding those numbers together gives a good idea of a low estimate of the number of Afghans in Canada. Allied Media Corporation, which has worked extensively with the Afghan American Community, estimates 300,000 Afghans live in the United States. With adding Canada's number, a reasonable estimate of Afghans in North America is 400,000 people.

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Estimated 40,000 Kurds in the United States and 23,000Kurds in Canada

A 2019 BBC article estimated 40,000 Kurds in the United States, as did a much earlier NBC News Report. A 2009 Kurdish Herald aricle estimated 50,000 Iraqi Kurds were living in the United States. The estimates of Kurds we have found in various cities seem to coincide with the more conservative 40,000 number. However, many Kurds from Turkey mix into the Turkish population and are harder to identify. Statistics Canada 2021 estimated 23,130 people in Canada had a Kurdish Ethnic Origin.

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Between 290,000 and 350,000 Turks living in North America

The Turkish Coalition of America gives a conservative community estimate of 350,000 Turks in the United States. According to American Community Survey 2019, 212,489 people with Turkish ancestry were estimated to live in the United States. Statistics Canada 2021 reported 76,745 of Turkish ethnic origin.

 

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1,252,000

Pakistan makes up the largest single country of origin of Muslims in North America, with 472,610 (2019 ACS 5-yr Asian Alone) reside in the United States and 303,260 (Statistics Canada 2021) in Canada.

Statistically, it is estimated that 370,000 Indo-Pak Muslims in North America originated of Indian descent. 399,575 reside in the United States and 76,143 reside in Canada. A Pew Research study found that 10% of Indian descent in North America identify as Muslim. It is by using this 10% and total Indian population numbers that the Indo-Pak Muslims from India are calculated.

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community estimates the diaspora to be around 66,000 Wolof

According to the American Community Survey and the Senegalese-American Association estimates listed in articles in previous years, it is safe to assume there are at least 60,000 Wolof in North America. The previous population and community estimates have listed the Wolof population around 20,000 within NYC and Statistics Canada 2021 estimated the Wolof population at 5,000 for Canada. Wolof also live in Chicago, Seattle, Raleigh, Montreal, etc. Information from Peoplegroups.org lists the population around 66,000. 

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Approximately 940,000 Gujaratis call North America home

20% of all Indians in the United States are from Gujarat state. According to the 2019 5-yr table ACS Census Data, there are 4,240,466 Indians in the United States. Statistically, there are approximately 848,093 Gujaratis in the United States. The 2021 Statistics Canada indicates that 92,005 speak Gujarati in the home. 

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1,781,000

The U.S. Census American Community Survey 2019 estimated 3,995,755 people with Asian Indian ancestry in the U.S. Pew Research indicates that 36% of all Indian descent population in the U.S. identify as Hindi. Therefore the estimate of Asian Indians who identify as Hindi is 1,438,472. Statistics Canada 2021 counted 761,425 Hindi Knowledge of Language in Canada. According to several articles, approximately 55% of Indian Hindi Speakers consider Hindi their second or third choice of language. Based on this research, 45% of the total KOL are native Hindi speakers. The number from Statistics Canada 2021 was multiplied by this percentage to calculate the Canadian population of 342,641 people. There are approximately 1,781,000 Asian Indians who identify as Hindi in North America. Using census information instead of community estimates helps compare populations of people groups in various cities. However, the population is likely larger than this number.

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approximately68,000

According to the 2019 American Community Survey 1-yr Place of Birth, 65,126 Uzbek people are estimated to live in the United States. The Canadian census does not list Uzbekistan as a place of birth, but according to 2021 Statistics Canada 3,290 claim Knowledge of Language. Using census information instead of community estimates helps compare populations of people groups in various cities. However, the population is likely larger than the total of 68,416.

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168,000

The 2019 American Community Survey 1-yr Place of Birth table indicates there are 132,477 born in Israel living in the US. The 2021 Statistics Canada indicates there are 35,345 people of Israeli ethnic origin. Community estimates are often much higher than these official census counts.

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312,000

Statistics Canada 2021 counted 99,980 people whose ethnic origin is Moroccan. There are around 10,000 Moroccan Jews in Montreal which is likely included in this number, resulting in 89,980 Moroccan Muslims. The 2019 American Community Survey counted 118,125 people with Moroccan ancestry in the United States. According to the Arab American Institute Foundation, Arab populatons are undercounted by 79.56 percent in the US. Using this percentage and the number from the American Community Survey, the total living in the United States is 212,105. The Moroccan population in North America is approximately 312,000.

 

Counting U.S.-born children and typical undercounts of Arabs in the census, it is safe to assume there are at least 150,000 Moroccan Arabs in North America. 

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approximately 344,000

According to the Arab American Institute Foundation, Arab populations are undercounted by 79.56 percent in the United States. This percentage and the total Arab population from the American Community Survey 2019 1-year estimates there are 317,000 people of Iraqi origin in the US. The 2021 Statistics Canada reported 59,300 Iraqis in Canada. According to the 2011 National Household Survery, 46% of the people of Iraqi origin in Canada are Muslim resulting in an estimated 27,278 Iraqi Arabs in Canada. Unfortunately, it is difficult to determine the exact number of Iraqi Arabs in North America. Actual numbers are likely much higher.

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80,000Tunisian Arabs

Statistics Canada 2021 counted 30,465 people whose ethnic origin was Tunisian. The 2019 American Community Survey does not count Tunisians.  Based on this article published in a Tunisian magazine, the number of Tunisians living in North America in 2016 was 44,195. We assume that the number has increased since then and approximate the number of Tunisian Arabs living in North America to be around 80,000.

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168,000

The 2019 American Community Survey counted 139,398 people of Palestinian ancestry. A report by the Arab American Institute showed that the Arab populations in the US are undercounted by 179.56% and approximately 67% are Muslim resulting in approximately 168,000 living in the US. Statistics Canada 2021 counted 45,905 people whose ethnic origin was Palestinian. 

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280,000 Thai in North America

Statistics Canada 2021 counted 22,275 people whose ethnic origin was Thai. The 2019 American Community Survey 5-year Asian Alone counted 205,145 people born in Thailand and now living in the United States. Counting U.S.-born children and typical undercounts of Thai in the census, it is possible that there are over 400,000 Thai in North America. This Pew Research article estimates 343,000 Thai in the US as of 2019. 

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247,000 Arabs of Egyptian origin in North America

According to the Arab American Institute Foundation, Arab populations are undercounted by 79.56 percent in the United States. According to Pew Research approximately 40% of Epyptians in the US are Muslim. Approximately 44% of Canadian Egyptians are Muslims. These percentages and the total Arab population from the American Community Survey 2019 1-year estimates and 2021 Statistics Canada provide the most accurate estimate while excluding Egyptian Coptics. There are approximately 201,000 Egyptian Arabs in the US and 46,000 in Canada.

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nearly 600,000

Statistics Canada 2021 counted 200,465 people whose ethnic origin was Iranian. The 2019 American Community Survey counted 385,473 people of ethnic Persians living in the United States. Using census information instead of community estimates helps compare populations of people groups in various cities. However, the p is likely larger than the number given.

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12,000 Somali Bantus

In the late 1990s and 2000s, the US resettled around 12,000 Somali Bantu from refugee camps through the UNCHR program. The population is likely much higher than 12,000 since many of the refugees were young and have since started families of their own.

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193,000 Albanian Muslims

The 2019 1-year United States American Community Survey census data reported 199,908 people reporting Albanian ancestry. Statistics Canada 2021 census data reported 41,625 people indicating Albanian ethnic origin. These numbers were multiplied by 0.80 to get a more accurate number of those identifying as Muslim. Census data provides a baseline population estimate, but numbers are likely much higher.

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344,000 Lebanese Muslims

According to the Arab American Institute Foundation, Arab populations are undercounted by 79 percent in the United States. According to Canadian Arab Institute Research, approximately 32% of the Lebanese population is Muslim. These percentages and the 2019 American Community Survey and the total Lebanese population from the American Community Survey 2019 1-year Ancestry table and 2021 Statistics Canada provide the most accurate estimates while excluding the number of Lebanese Christians. There are approximately 276,814 Lebanese Muslims in the US and 67,394 in Canada.

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126,000

According to the Arab American Institute Foundation, Arab populations are undercounted by 79 percent in the United States. According to Canadian Arab Institute Research, approximately 30% of the Syrian population is Muslim. These percentages and the 2019 American Community Survey and the total Syrian population from the American Community Survey 2019 1-year Ancestry table and 2021 Statistics Canada provide the most accurate estimates while excluding the number of Syrian Christians. There are approximately 276,814 Lebanese Muslims in the US and 29,475 in Canada. 

 

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over 177,000

Statistics Canada 202 indicated 75,245 people reported ethnic origin was Bangladeshi. The 2019 5-yr American Community Survey Asian Alone table reported 177,778 Bangladeshis now living in the United States. Using census information instead of community estimates helps compare populations of people groups in various cities. However, the number of Bangladeshis in North America is likley highter than the number listed.

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