The Portuguese of Zimbabwe

The Portuguese of Zimbabwe, numbering approximately 15,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Southwestern European people native to Portugal whose culture has been shaped by Atlantic maritime traditions, the Iberian environment, Roman and medieval influences, Roman Catholic heritage, and centuries of overseas exploration and global exchange. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Portuguese is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: Zimbabwe
People Cluster: Portuguese, European
Primary Language(s): Portuguese (por)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 15,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG015671
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Portuguese 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

95%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Portuguese
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Portuguese Speakers

Media Resources in Portuguese:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

5 films

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Portuguese 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 Portuguese:
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 Portuguese of Zimbabwe

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
readJohn 14:6

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will recognize Him as the only way to the Father and follow Him in faith.

...And that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
readLuke 24:47

Pray that the message of repentance and forgiveness through Jesus will reach everyone.

Again I say to you, if two of you agree on earth about anything they ask, it will be done for them by my Father in heaven.
readMatthew 18:19

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they find other believers to pray with, and that they will trust God to answer their requests according to His will.

But seek the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to the LORD on its behalf, for in its welfare you will find your welfare.
readJeremiah 29:7

Pray that God will lead the lost among them to followers of Jesus who will share the gospel with them so that they may believe and take the message of hope to their families and friends.

Portuguese Across Countries (ROP3 - 108129) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

20 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress Index ▲LanguageReligion
PortuguesePortugueseGuinea-Bissau6,600Unengaged and UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseAndorra11,500Unengaged and UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseBelgium56,500Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseGermany143,000Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseLuxembourg103,000Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortuguesePortugal9,525,000Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseSpain93,500Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseSwitzerland269,000Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseUnited Kingdom177,000Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseMalawi21,500Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseMozambique28,500Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseSouth Africa1,090,000Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseZambia3,900Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseZimbabwe15,500Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseFrance984,000No Longer UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseVenezuela240,000No Longer UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseArgentina18,000No Longer UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseCanada309,000No Longer UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseUnited States863,000No Longer UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
PortuguesePortugueseMacao10,500No Longer UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism

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.

Scroll to Top