+161
Kate Nelson/AusAID - Wikimedia, CC BY 2.0, via Joshua Project
Unreached people group Frontier
Deaf
UnreachedWhere the gospel has not yet reached this people
12.1M people from this group live in countries where they remain unreached or minimally reached:
-
Pakistan Unreached
1.080.000 people -
Bangladesh Unreached
815.000 people -
Indonesia Unreached
814.000 people -
Brazil Unreached
630.000 people -
Philippines Unreached
540.000 people -
Egypt Unreached
502.000 people -
Congo - Kinshasa Unreached
450.000 people -
Myanmar (Burma) Unreached
400.000 people -
Cameroon Unreached
258.000 people -
Iran Unreached
250.000 people -
Mexico Unreached
250.000 people -
Turkey Unreached
250.000 people -
Algeria Unreached
240.000 people -
South Africa Unreached
235.000 people -
Sudan Unreached
214.000 people -
Thailand Unreached
200.000 people -
Afghanistan Unreached
190.000 people -
South Korea Minimally reached
180.000 people -
Yemen Unreached
159.000 people -
Angola Unreached
159.000 people -
Colombia Unreached
151.000 people -
Mozambique Unreached
150.000 people -
Madagascar Unreached
135.000 people -
Côte d’Ivoire Unreached
130.000 people -
Iraq Unreached
128.000 people -
North Korea Unreached
128.000 people -
Japan Unreached
126.000 people -
Burkina Faso Unreached
102.000 people -
Saudi Arabia Unreached
100.000 people -
France Unreached
100.000 people -
Peru Unreached
98.000 people -
Tajikistan Unreached
94.000 people -
Malawi Unreached
93.000 people -
Venezuela Unreached
86.000 people -
Vietnam Unreached
86.000 people -
Syria Unreached
85.000 people -
Senegal Unreached
81.000 people -
Chad Unreached
80.000 people -
Germany Unreached
80.000 people -
Spain Unreached
78.000 people -
Somalia Unreached
77.000 people -
Zimbabwe Unreached
73.000 people -
Sri Lanka Unreached
73.000 people -
Morocco Unreached
65.000 people -
Guinea Unreached
64.000 people -
Argentina Unreached
60.000 people -
Malaysia Unreached
59.000 people -
Kazakhstan Unreached
57.000 people -
Belarus Unreached
56.000 people -
South Sudan Unreached
55.000 people -
Ukraine Unreached
55.000 people -
Mali Unreached
51.000 people -
Ecuador Unreached
50.000 people -
Guatemala Unreached
50.000 people -
Canada Unreached
46.000 people -
Togo Unreached
40.000 people -
Haiti Unreached
40.000 people -
Honduras Unreached
40.000 people -
Italy Unreached
40.000 people -
Sierra Leone Unreached
39.000 people -
Poland Unreached
38.000 people -
Laos Unreached
36.000 people -
Cuba Unreached
34.000 people -
Rwanda Unreached
34.000 people -
Dominican Republic Unreached
32.000 people -
Kyrgyzstan Unreached
32.000 people -
Azerbaijan Unreached
30.000 people -
Jordan Unreached
30.000 people -
Papua New Guinea Unreached
30.000 people -
Congo - Brazzaville Unreached
27.000 people -
El Salvador Unreached
26.000 people -
Liberia Unreached
25.000 people -
Romania Unreached
25.000 people -
Central African Republic Unreached
24.000 people -
Taiwan Unreached
24.000 people -
Bolivia Unreached
23.000 people -
Mauritania Unreached
23.000 people -
Uzbekistan Unreached
22.000 people -
Bulgaria Unreached
21.000 people -
Chile Unreached
21.000 people -
Tunisia Unreached
21.000 people -
Eritrea Unreached
20.000 people -
Gambia Unreached
20.000 people -
Libya Unreached
20.000 people -
Turkmenistan Unreached
18.000 people -
Mongolia Unreached
16.000 people -
Niger Unreached
16.000 people -
Costa Rica Unreached
15.000 people -
Slovakia Unreached
15.000 people -
Netherlands Unreached
15.000 people -
Paraguay Unreached
15.000 people -
Serbia Unreached
15.000 people -
Palestinian Territories Unreached
14.000 people -
Zambia Unreached
14.000 people -
Benin Unreached
13.000 people -
Czechia Unreached
13.000 people -
Lesotho Unreached
13.000 people -
Lebanon Unreached
12.000 people -
Australia Unreached
11.000 people -
Belgium Unreached
11.000 people -
Georgia Unreached
11.000 people -
Greece Unreached
11.000 people -
United Arab Emirates Unreached
10.000 people -
Bosnia & Herzegovina Unreached
10.000 people -
Hungary Unreached
10.000 people -
Israel Unreached
10.000 people -
Portugal Unreached
10.000 people -
Puerto Rico Unreached
10.000 people -
Panama Unreached
9.500 people -
Austria Unreached
8.800 people -
Namibia Unreached
8.300 people -
Hong Kong SAR China Unreached
8.000 people -
Lithuania Unreached
8.000 people -
Sweden Unreached
8.000 people -
Moldova Unreached
7.800 people -
Jamaica Unreached
7.500 people -
Switzerland Unreached
7.500 people -
Botswana Unreached
7.000 people -
Gabon Unreached
7.000 people -
Uruguay Unreached
7.000 people -
Croatia Unreached
6.500 people -
Nicaragua Unreached
6.200 people -
Denmark Unreached
6.000 people -
Singapore Unreached
6.000 people -
Timor-Leste Unreached
6.000 people -
Eswatini Unreached
6.000 people -
Djibouti Unreached
5.000 people -
Kosovo Unreached
5.000 people -
Comoros Unreached
4.000 people -
Solomon Islands Unreached
3.000 people -
Western Sahara Unreached
3.000 people -
Cape Verde Unreached
2.800 people -
Guyana Unreached
2.100 people -
Montenegro Unreached
2.000 people -
Maldives Unreached
1.600 people -
Belize Unreached
1.200 people -
Mayotte Unreached
1.000 people -
São Tomé & Príncipe Unreached
1.000 people -
Micronesia Unreached
600 people -
Samoa Unreached
600 people -
Dominica Unreached
200 people -
Marshall Islands Unreached
200 people -
Cook Islands Unreached
50 people -
Aruba Unreached
-
American Samoa Unreached
-
Guadeloupe Unreached
-
Martinique Unreached
-
Monaco Unreached
-
St. Kitts & Nevis Unreached
-
San Marino Unreached
-
St. Lucia Unreached
-
Curaçao Unreached
Deaf people form one of the most widely spread peoples on the planet: they are present in practically every country, yet they are rarely seen as a distinct people, and instead as individuals with a physical limitation. Those who live within this culture, however, tend to disagree with that view: the Deaf community understands itself as a group with its own language, values, and stories, united by the shared experience of communicating through signs.
This identity crosses national, ethnic, and religious borders. A Deaf person from Brazil and a Deaf person from Indonesia share the same way of being in the world, even without sharing a nationality, though each country has its own sign language and, therefore, its own distinct Deaf community.
It is a people defined not by a territory or an ethnicity, but by a sensory experience and a visual language, which makes it one of the most singular human groups, and one of the least understood by the world around it.
Deaf communities have existed since the beginning in every human society, but only in the last few centuries have sign languages begun to be recognized as full languages, with their own grammar, rather than as simple improvised gestures. Schools for the deaf, established from the eighteenth century onward in different countries, were decisive: bringing deaf children together in the same space allowed their sign languages to be born and passed down between generations.
Throughout the twentieth century, this identity grew stronger: Deaf communities began to organize, defend their languages, and demand recognition as a cultural and linguistic group, rather than simply as people with a physical condition to be corrected.
| Country | Share of the people | Population |
|---|---|---|
India Partially reached
|
27,3%
|
7.504.000 |
China Partially reached
|
17,1%
|
4.710.000 |
|
Pakistan Unreached
|
3,9%
|
1.080.000 |
Nigeria Partially reached
|
3%
|
821.000 |
|
Bangladesh Unreached
|
3%
|
815.000 |
|
Indonesia Unreached
|
3%
|
814.000 |
Russia Partially reached
|
2,5%
|
700.000 |
|
Brazil Unreached
|
2,3%
|
630.000 |
Ethiopia Partially reached
|
2%
|
560.000 |
|
Philippines Unreached
|
2%
|
540.000 |
|
Egypt Unreached
|
1,8%
|
502.000 |
|
Congo - Kinshasa Unreached
|
1,6%
|
450.000 |
|
Myanmar (Burma) Unreached
|
1,5%
|
400.000 |
Tanzania Partially reached
|
1,1%
|
293.000 |
United States Partially reached
|
1%
|
278.000 |
Kenya Partially reached
|
0,9%
|
260.000 |
|
Cameroon Unreached
|
0,9%
|
258.000 |
|
Iran Unreached
|
0,9%
|
250.000 |
|
Mexico Unreached
|
0,9%
|
250.000 |
|
Turkey Unreached
|
0,9%
|
250.000 |
|
Algeria Unreached
|
0,9%
|
240.000 |
|
South Africa Unreached
|
0,9%
|
235.000 |
|
Sudan Unreached
|
0,8%
|
214.000 |
|
Thailand Unreached
|
0,7%
|
200.000 |
|
Afghanistan Unreached
|
0,7%
|
190.000 |
|
South Korea Minimally reached
|
0,7%
|
180.000 |
|
Yemen Unreached
|
0,6%
|
159.000 |
|
Angola Unreached
|
0,6%
|
159.000 |
Ghana Partially reached
|
0,6%
|
152.000 |
|
Colombia Unreached
|
0,5%
|
151.000 |
|
Mozambique Unreached
|
0,5%
|
150.000 |
|
Madagascar Unreached
|
0,5%
|
135.000 |
|
Côte d’Ivoire Unreached
|
0,5%
|
130.000 |
|
Iraq Unreached
|
0,5%
|
128.000 |
|
North Korea Unreached
|
0,5%
|
128.000 |
|
Japan Unreached
|
0,5%
|
126.000 |
|
Burkina Faso Unreached
|
0,4%
|
102.000 |
|
Saudi Arabia Unreached
|
0,4%
|
100.000 |
|
France Unreached
|
0,4%
|
100.000 |
|
Peru Unreached
|
0,4%
|
98.000 |
|
Tajikistan Unreached
|
0,3%
|
94.000 |
|
Malawi Unreached
|
0,3%
|
93.000 |
|
Venezuela Unreached
|
0,3%
|
86.000 |
|
Vietnam Unreached
|
0,3%
|
86.000 |
|
Syria Unreached
|
0,3%
|
85.000 |
|
Senegal Unreached
|
0,3%
|
81.000 |
|
Chad Unreached
|
0,3%
|
80.000 |
|
Germany Unreached
|
0,3%
|
80.000 |
|
Spain Unreached
|
0,3%
|
78.000 |
|
Somalia Unreached
|
0,3%
|
77.000 |
|
Zimbabwe Unreached
|
0,3%
|
73.000 |
|
Sri Lanka Unreached
|
0,3%
|
73.000 |
|
Morocco Unreached
|
0,2%
|
65.000 |
|
Guinea Unreached
|
0,2%
|
64.000 |
|
Argentina Unreached
|
0,2%
|
60.000 |
|
Malaysia Unreached
|
0,2%
|
59.000 |
Burundi Partially reached
|
0,2%
|
58.000 |
|
Kazakhstan Unreached
|
0,2%
|
57.000 |
|
Belarus Unreached
|
0,2%
|
56.000 |
|
South Sudan Unreached
|
0,2%
|
55.000 |
|
Ukraine Unreached
|
0,2%
|
55.000 |
|
Mali Unreached
|
0,2%
|
51.000 |
|
Ecuador Unreached
|
0,2%
|
50.000 |
|
Guatemala Unreached
|
0,2%
|
50.000 |
|
Canada Unreached
|
0,2%
|
46.000 |
|
Togo Unreached
|
0,1%
|
40.000 |
|
Haiti Unreached
|
0,1%
|
40.000 |
|
Honduras Unreached
|
0,1%
|
40.000 |
|
Italy Unreached
|
0,1%
|
40.000 |
|
Sierra Leone Unreached
|
0,1%
|
39.000 |
|
Poland Unreached
|
0,1%
|
38.000 |
|
Laos Unreached
|
0,1%
|
36.000 |
|
Cuba Unreached
|
0,1%
|
34.000 |
|
Rwanda Unreached
|
0,1%
|
34.000 |
|
Dominican Republic Unreached
|
0,1%
|
32.000 |
|
Kyrgyzstan Unreached
|
0,1%
|
32.000 |
|
Azerbaijan Unreached
|
0,1%
|
30.000 |
|
Jordan Unreached
|
0,1%
|
30.000 |
|
Papua New Guinea Unreached
|
0,1%
|
30.000 |
|
Congo - Brazzaville Unreached
|
0,1%
|
27.000 |
|
El Salvador Unreached
|
0,1%
|
26.000 |
|
Liberia Unreached
|
0,1%
|
25.000 |
|
Romania Unreached
|
0,1%
|
25.000 |
Uganda Partially reached
|
0,1%
|
25.000 |
|
Central African Republic Unreached
|
0,1%
|
24.000 |
|
Taiwan Unreached
|
0,1%
|
24.000 |
|
Bolivia Unreached
|
0,1%
|
23.000 |
|
Mauritania Unreached
|
0,1%
|
23.000 |
|
Uzbekistan Unreached
|
0,1%
|
22.000 |
|
Bulgaria Unreached
|
0,1%
|
21.000 |
|
Chile Unreached
|
0,1%
|
21.000 |
|
Tunisia Unreached
|
0,1%
|
21.000 |
|
Eritrea Unreached
|
0,1%
|
20.000 |
|
Gambia Unreached
|
0,1%
|
20.000 |
|
Libya Unreached
|
0,1%
|
20.000 |
Nepal Partially reached
|
0,1%
|
20.000 |
|
Turkmenistan Unreached
|
0,1%
|
18.000 |
|
Mongolia Unreached
|
0,1%
|
16.000 |
|
Niger Unreached
|
0,1%
|
16.000 |
|
Costa Rica Unreached
|
0,1%
|
15.000 |
|
Slovakia Unreached
|
0,1%
|
15.000 |
|
Netherlands Unreached
|
0,1%
|
15.000 |
|
Paraguay Unreached
|
0,1%
|
15.000 |
|
Serbia Unreached
|
0,1%
|
15.000 |
|
Palestinian Territories Unreached
|
0,1%
|
14.000 |
|
Zambia Unreached
|
0,1%
|
14.000 |
|
Benin Unreached
|
0%
|
13.000 |
|
Czechia Unreached
|
0%
|
13.000 |
|
Lesotho Unreached
|
0%
|
13.000 |
|
Lebanon Unreached
|
0%
|
12.000 |
|
Australia Unreached
|
0%
|
11.000 |
|
Belgium Unreached
|
0%
|
11.000 |
|
Georgia Unreached
|
0%
|
11.000 |
|
Greece Unreached
|
0%
|
11.000 |
|
United Arab Emirates Unreached
|
0%
|
10.000 |
|
Bosnia & Herzegovina Unreached
|
0%
|
10.000 |
|
Hungary Unreached
|
0%
|
10.000 |
|
Israel Unreached
|
0%
|
10.000 |
|
Portugal Unreached
|
0%
|
10.000 |
|
Puerto Rico Unreached
|
0%
|
10.000 |
|
Panama Unreached
|
0%
|
9.500 |
|
Austria Unreached
|
0%
|
8.800 |
|
Namibia Unreached
|
0%
|
8.300 |
|
Hong Kong SAR China Unreached
|
0%
|
8.000 |
|
Lithuania Unreached
|
0%
|
8.000 |
|
Sweden Unreached
|
0%
|
8.000 |
|
Moldova Unreached
|
0%
|
7.800 |
|
Jamaica Unreached
|
0%
|
7.500 |
|
Switzerland Unreached
|
0%
|
7.500 |
|
Botswana Unreached
|
0%
|
7.000 |
|
Gabon Unreached
|
0%
|
7.000 |
|
Uruguay Unreached
|
0%
|
7.000 |
|
Croatia Unreached
|
0%
|
6.500 |
|
Nicaragua Unreached
|
0%
|
6.200 |
|
Denmark Unreached
|
0%
|
6.000 |
|
Singapore Unreached
|
0%
|
6.000 |
|
Timor-Leste Unreached
|
0%
|
6.000 |
|
Eswatini Unreached
|
0%
|
6.000 |
|
Djibouti Unreached
|
0%
|
5.000 |
|
Kosovo Unreached
|
0%
|
5.000 |
|
Comoros Unreached
|
0%
|
4.000 |
|
Solomon Islands Unreached
|
0%
|
3.000 |
|
Western Sahara Unreached
|
0%
|
3.000 |
|
Cape Verde Unreached
|
0%
|
2.800 |
|
Guyana Unreached
|
0%
|
2.100 |
|
Montenegro Unreached
|
0%
|
2.000 |
|
Maldives Unreached
|
0%
|
1.600 |
|
Belize Unreached
|
0%
|
1.200 |
|
Mayotte Unreached
|
0%
|
1.000 |
|
São Tomé & Príncipe Unreached
|
0%
|
1.000 |
|
Micronesia Unreached
|
0%
|
600 |
|
Samoa Unreached
|
0%
|
600 |
|
Dominica Unreached
|
0%
|
200 |
|
Marshall Islands Unreached
|
0%
|
200 |
|
Cook Islands Unreached
|
0%
|
50 |
|
Aruba Unreached
|
0%
|
|
|
American Samoa Unreached
|
0%
|
|
|
Guadeloupe Unreached
|
0%
|
|
|
Martinique Unreached
|
0%
|
|
|
Monaco Unreached
|
0%
|
|
|
St. Kitts & Nevis Unreached
|
0%
|
|
|
San Marino Unreached
|
0%
|
|
|
St. Lucia Unreached
|
0%
|
|
|
Curaçao Unreached
|
0%
|
Deaf people live in practically every country in the world, almost always among the majority hearing population, forming their own communities within each nation. Communication through signs organizes social life: gatherings, schools, churches, and Deaf associations function as spaces where the shared language creates belonging and deep friendship.
Each country tends to have its own sign language, with grammar and vocabulary distinct from the local spoken language, which makes the Deaf community of each nation a people with its own identity and history, not simply a variation of the surrounding hearing culture. Many Deaf people value this language and culture so much that, even if they could hear, they would prefer to remain as they are.
There is no typical religion within the Deaf community: beliefs vary according to the country and surrounding culture, largely reflecting the predominant religion in each nation. What tends to unite Deaf people is not a shared faith, but the experience of living out those beliefs, often without full access to them in their own language.
This holds true for Christianity as well: even in majority Christian countries, it is common for Deaf people to grow up with little or no accessible religious teaching, attending services and classes they cannot fully follow. Without a shared sign language between those who teach and those who learn, much of the faith passed around them arrives only in fragments.
There are more than 300 sign languages in the world, and until a few years ago none of them had a complete Bible. That changed in 2020, when the first full translation of Scripture in a sign language appeared, produced largely by Deaf people for Deaf people. It is a historic milestone, but still an isolated one: the vast majority of other sign languages remain without a single translated passage, and videos with signed Scripture are still the exception, not the rule.
The greatest barrier is not one of belief, but of access. A large share of Deaf people around the world have not had full access to formal education, which makes it difficult to read written texts in their country’s spoken language, the most common means of evangelism. Since each country has its own sign language, and most of them have never received even a single translated verse, messages designed for hearing people simply do not reach them. This leaves entire communities isolated from the gospel even while living amid majority Christian nations.
There is a broad lack of access: to quality education in their own sign language, to interpreters in healthcare and legal settings, and to materials that respect Deaf culture rather than treating it merely as a limitation to overcome.
In the spiritual realm, the greatest need is for churches and faith communities that use the local sign language, not just captions or last minute interpreters, along with more signed Scripture and Deaf leaders equipped to teach their own people.
In 2020, the first complete Bible in a sign language was finished, a milestone after decades of work carried out largely by Deaf people for Deaf people. It is a concrete sign that the Word truly can reach this people fully in their own language, and a path that is beginning to open for the hundreds of other sign languages still waiting for that same translation.
Pray for Deaf
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