What is the 10/40 Window?
December 16, 2003
The so-called “10/40 Window" referred to by Southern Baptist missionaries is the rectangle-shaped area located between latitudes 10 degrees north to 40 degrees north of the equator. It includes Africa, the Middle East and Central Asia . Stretching from North Africa across to China , it contains the largest population of non-Christians in the world.
Nearly four billion people live in this zone. An estimated 1.6 billion have never had the chance to hear the Gospel. About 2,000 unreached people groups are represented within this rectangle.
The seat of every major non-Christian religion – Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, Animism, Atheism and Sikhism – is headquartered in the 10/40 Window. In many of the 65 countries represented in the zone, sharing the Gospel means death.