What Is the 10/40 Window?

When answering, “What is the 10/40 window?” the most basic definition according to Ends of the Earth Ministries is “a rectangular area of North Africa, the Middle East and Asia, between 10 degrees north and 40 degrees north latitude.”[1]

It is important to also remember that this window represents more than a designation on the map. It is home to the beautiful people of this region of the world, many of whom are Muslims and followers of traditional Asian religions.[2] This area is said to be the most closed to the Christian message.

What is the 10/40 window? The history is interesting: In 1989 and 1990, Luis Bush and Pete Holzmann analyzed the region using a box located between 10 and 40 degrees north of the equator. They called it the 10/40 box. Later, Bush’s wife renamed the box “the 10/40 window” because a window represents an opportunity to see important mission realities more clearly.[3] Prior to Bush and Holzmann’s research, the region was known as the “resistant belt” or the “unoccupied fields.”[4]

The 10/40 window has expanded over the years. Originally, the window comprised only countries with at least 50% of their landmass inside of the window. The revised window includes several countries that are close to the 10 or 40 degrees north latitude. These countries in the 10/40 window that were added have high concentrations of people yet to be reached with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

When studying the 10/40 window statistics, we can learn a lot about the region. “Approximately 5.32 billion individuals residing in 8,882 distinct people groups are in the revised 10/40 Window.”[5] The current window includes 68 countries.

What is the 10/40 window? Inside this window, we find three of the world’s dominant religions—Islam and two traditional Asian religions. Islam prevails in the Middle East and northern Africa, while traditional Asian religions are prevalent in South Asia and near the center of the window. There are also large populations of Atheists and non-religious people inside the window.

The 10/40 window is also home to the majority of the world’s poor. “Of the poorest of the poor, more than eight out of ten live in the 10/40 Window. On average, they exist on less than a few hundred dollars per person per year,” says the Joshua Project.[6]


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