Source: Joshua Project
Mobilizers, prone to simplify things, like to weave statements like this into mission presentations: “According to Joshua Project, there are 7,190 unreached people groups.” But you don’t have to delve too deeply to see that the number of unreached people groups—or people groups in generals—is more complicated than it appears.
One layer of complication comes from this question: Do we count a group like the Bambara, who live in 12 West African countries, as 12 groups or one?
- Taking the first approach produces a list of 17,280 people groups, 7,190 of them considered unreached.
- The second approach leads to a list of 10,296 people groups, 4,422 considered unreached.
Joshua Project plans to start using the second set of numbers alongside the first. Learn more about the benefits and challenges of making this distinction. You might also want to read a short article from Joshua Project Executive Director Chris Clayman, People Groups: A Missional Priority or a Problematic Paradigm?
Interested in how many languages are spoken in the world today? The new edition of the Ethnologue, released February 21, lists a total of 7,159 living languages worldwide—a net decrease of five languages since the previous update a year before.