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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Tzotzils of Mexico

The Tzotzils of Mexico, numbering approximately 776,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as a Mayan ethnolinguistic community indigenous to the central highlands of Chiapas, Mexico They are an Indigenous people, with Tzotzil as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Maya people cluster of the Latin American and Caribbean Peoples. Their primary religion is Folk Catholicism. They primarily speak Tzotzil.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Tzotzil

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Mexico
People Cluster: Maya
Primary Language(s): Tzotzil (tzo)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Catholicism
Population: 776,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG039169

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Pray for the Tzotzils of Mexico

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: Folk Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

63%
%
Folk Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tzotzil
Language Family: Mayan

88%
%
Tzotzil Speakers

Media Resources in Tzotzil:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Tzotzil:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2000 Bible Society of Mexico✓
1997 Bible Society of Mexico✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tzotzil bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Tzotzils are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Tzotzils:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Tzotzils of Mexico

And he said to them, "This is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many."
readMark 14:23-24

Pray for those who may have heard the gospel but have not yet submitted their lives to Christ, that they will finally see the sacrifice which He made for them and surrender their lives to Him.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
read1 John 1:5

As mobile phones, radio, and satellite television, and other technologies become more available worldwide, pray for people who are developing digital gospel resources so that others can easily access the gospel.

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
readRomans 6:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, God will lead those who might hesitate in getting baptized to trust Him as they obey His command, even when obedience is hard.

For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
readActs 13:47

Pray that as people come to faith, they will follow the Lord's leading to go to their neighbors and share the treasure they found in Christ.

Tzotzil Across Countries (ROP3 - 117158) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
TzotzilsPG039169TzotzilsMexico776,000No Longer UnreachedTzotzilFolk Catholicism
TzotzilsPG049309TzotzilsUnited States77,500No Longer UnreachedTzotzilRoman 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.

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