The Peoples of Vietnam By the Numbers
Since our prayer focus for Secret Church 15 is the peoples of Vietnam, it may be helpful to get to know some basic information about them. As you look at the numbers below, remember that Vietnam is slightly larger than the state of New Mexico:
Vietnamese Population
Total Population: 93,026,000 (Population of US: 308,745,538)
Unreached Population: 8,532,000 (Population of Virginia: 8,185,867)
Vietnam is roughly a third of the population of the United States with more unreached people (8.5 million+) than the entire state of Virginia. Or, to put it another way, almost 11% of Vietnam’s population is unreached. And keep in mind that those who are classified as ‘reached’ have much less of an opportunity to hear the gospel than many of us do due to the relatively small amount of churches in the reached areas.
Some more numbers of interest with regard to people groups:
Vietnamese People Groups
Number of People Groups: 119
Number of Unreached People Groups: 72
Well over half the people groups are unreached (about 60%). Finally, the percentage of evangelicals, as well as the percentage of Buddhists:
% Evangelical: 1.8%
Largest Religion: Buddhism 51.8%
In a country of over 93 million individuals, less than 2% are classified as evangelical. Buddhism is the religion for over half the population, though we should keep in mind that many Vietnamese are syncretistic. That is, their religious beliefs and practices are influenced by two or more religions or worldviews. In the case of many Vietnamese, Buddhism is mixed with animism and/or elements of ancestor worship.
In the end, all the statistics above represent people created in God’s image, and they should lead us to pray that the gospel would go forth in this spiritually dark land.
