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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Nyanja of Zimbabwe

The Nyanja of Zimbabwe, numbering approximately 817,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an ethnolinguistic community of Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, and Mozambique They are an Diaspora people, with Nyanja (Chichewa) as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Bantu, Chewa-Sena people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion. They primarily speak Chichewa.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Nyanja

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Zimbabwe
People Cluster: Bantu, Chewa-Sena
Primary Language(s): Chichewa (nya)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 817,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG015668
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Pray for the Nyanja of Zimbabwe

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

—
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Chichewa
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Chichewa Speakers

Media Resources in Chichewa:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Chichewa:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1997 Buku Loyera Version✓
Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero (The Word of God in Contemporary Chichewa)✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Chichewa bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Nyanja are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Nyanja:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

Pray specifically for the Nyanja of Zimbabwe

For the Son of Man came to seek and save the lost.
readLuke 19:10

Pray that those who are lost will respond to the One who came to seek and save the lost, and experience the joy of being found.

The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.
readMatthew 4:16

Pray that those who dwell in darkness and live in the land of the shadow of death may be drawn out of darkness into His marvelous light.

For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.
read2 Corinthians 12:10

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will embrace their weaknesses, hardships, and difficulties, having hope because Christ's power is made perfect in their weakness.

Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."
readMatthew 6:9b-10

Pray that God will raise up Christians who are driven by a desire to see God's name worshiped, His kingdom come, and His will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Ask Him to send them to the lost in this people group and sustain them.

Nyanja, Chewa Across Countries (ROP3 - 107548) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

6 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Chewa NyanjaPG015333Chewa NyanjaMalawi8,515,000No Longer UnreachedChichewaEthnoreligion
NyanjaPG015407NyanjaMozambique1,455,000Engaged yet UnreachedChichewaEthnoreligion
Western NyanjaPG015620Western NyanjaZambia853,000No Longer UnreachedChichewaProtestantism
NyanjaPG015668NyanjaZimbabwe817,000Engaged yet UnreachedChichewaEthnoreligion
NyanjaPG015015NyanjaTanzania71,000Engaged yet UnreachedChichewaRoman Catholicism
NyanjaPG015556NyanjaEswatini7,300No Longer UnreachedChichewaProtestantism

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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