Prototype rebuild by the IMB Innovation Team. The official site is peoplegroups.org.

People group profile · PG009547

The Yintale Karen of Myanmar

The Yintale Karen of Myanmar, numbering about 11,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic subgroup of the Karen, an ethnic group indigenous to Kayin State in southeastern Myanmar.

They are an indigenous people in the Karen people cluster of the Southeast Asian Peoples. Their primary religion is Theravada Buddhism, and they primarily speak Yintale Karen.

Pray for the Yintale KarenPrint profile

AI-generated illustration representing the Yintale Karen people
AI-generated illustration, not a photograph. Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Karen, Yintale

Fast facts

Country
Myanmar
Population
11,500
Affinity group
Asian Pacific Rim Peoples
People cluster
Karen
Primary language
Yintale Karen (kvy)
Primary religion
Theravada Buddhism
Strategic Progress Index
No Longer Unreached
Evangelical
2% or Greater but Less than 5%
GSEC
2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
Lostness priority
Marginally Reached People Group
Region
South-Eastern Asia, Asia

Where they live

Gospel status

The Yintale Karen are No Longer Unreached, which means 2% or more are evangelical Christians. In GSEC terms, this people group is greater than or equal to 2% evangelical.

  • Congregations exist Yes
  • Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted

Next steps for the Yintale Karen

  • Pray for the churches among this group to grow in faithfulness and maturity
  • Equip believers to reach the unreached peoples around them
  • Send out laborers from this people to the nations

Primary religion

Theravada Buddhism · Buddhism

50% adherents

Primary language

Yintale Karen · Sino-Tibetan family

73% speak Yintale Karen

Gospel resources in Yintale Karen

  • Bible available, published 2020
  • JESUS Film not available
  • Radio programs not available
  • Gospel recordings available
  • Audio resources available
  • Bible stories not available

Bibles

Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.

Pray for the Yintale Karen

  1. Psalm 27:1. Pray that new believers will be strengthened in the face of persecution, with the Lord as their stronghold.
  2. Romans 12:4–5. Pray that believers from many cultures will work together as one body so that the church is built up.
  3. Revelation 7:9. Pray for the day when people from this group stand before the throne with every nation, tribe, people and language.
  4. John 17:3. Pray that many will come to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.

Download a prayer guide

Know something we don't? Submit updates to IMB Global Research.