The Kunming Circle: Home to Half the People on Earth

The Kunming Circle represents the area within 2,400 miles (3,750 km) of the city of Kunming, China. Although this area covers less than a tenth of the surface of the globe, it is home to more than half of the people on earth, but only about one eighth of the Christians.

A member of the Global Research Team first identified the Kunming Circle in 2004 and recently developed these infographics. He believes that the Kunming Circle “will help people to gain a right perspective on the world in general” and “challenge unhelpful misconceptions about the world.” Likewise, this perspective can guide our engagement in Great Commission Work.

The Global Research Team is passionate to help Christians around the world grapple with the mobilization of Great Commission workers based on potential and need. As we consider the distribution of Christians around the globe, the Kunming Circle provides a suitable focus for Christians and Christian organizations within the Circle, as well as those in the Americas and Pacific region, or those that have or aspire to a truly global ministry.

The following infographic highlights how few Christians there are in this part of the world compared to other regions.

Here are three ways this information can guide Great Commission work.
1. To Christians living inside the circle, we say, “Don’t think that you need to go to the ends of the earth to take your part of the Great Commission. 71% of all non-Christians in the world are relatively nearby!"
2. To Christians who pray for the world, consider spending as much time praying for people within the circle as those outside.
3. To churches and organizations like OC that aspire to a global ministry to the world, we advise, “Give at least half your attention to the circle”.

According to this last metric, OC does quite well. The United States Mobilization Center currently sends more people into the Kunming Circle than all other regions of the world put together. Considering that OC has its roots in the Orient, this should not be surprising. In addition, the OC Global Alliance has six Mobilization Centers inside the Kunming Circle, and other Mobilization Centers are also sending workers into this region. Thus, the OC Global Alliance has significant engagement in discipling the peoples inside the Kunming Circle. If you are looking to serve in this region of the world, we would be interested in exploring a partnership with you.