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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Shona of South Africa

The Shona of South Africa, numbering approximately 436,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are described as a Bantu ethnic group native to Southern Africa, primarily living in Zimbabwe where they form the majority of the population They are an Diaspora people, with Shona as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Bantu, Shona people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. Their primary religion is Protestantism. They primarily speak Shona.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: South Africa
People Cluster: Bantu, Shona
Primary Language(s): Shona (sna)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 436,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG015532
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Pray for the Shona of South Africa

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: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

65%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Shona
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Shona Speakers

Media Resources in Shona:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

3 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Shona:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Union Shona✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Shona bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Shona 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 Shona:
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 Shona of South Africa

I acknowledged my sin to you, and I did not cover my iniquity; I said, 'I will confess my transgressions to the Lord,' and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.
readPsalm 32:5

Pray those who are lost will realize their sin, confess their iniquity, and grow in their understanding of salvation through faith in Christ alone.

Sing to the LORD, bless his name; tell of his salvation from day to day.
readPsalm 96:2

Pray that gospel resources will reach this generation so that they will receive the good news and sing to the LORD, bless His name, and tell of His salvation each day.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
readHebrews 10:23

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will cling tightly to the hope they have in God to faithfully keep His promises.

"For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription: ‘To the unknown god.’ What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you."
readActs 17:23

Pray that believers God sends to cross cultures will be sensitive to the spiritual needs of the people they serve, and will proclaim the truth of Christ to them in creative ways that they will understand.

Shona Across Countries (ROP3 - 108959) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

5 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
ShonaPG015673ShonaZimbabwe8,730,000No Longer UnreachedShonaProtestantism
ShonaPG015532ShonaSouth Africa436,000No Longer UnreachedShonaProtestantism
ShonaPG015234ShonaBotswana61,000Engaged yet UnreachedShonaAfrican Traditional Religion
ShonaPG015630ShonaZambia34,500No Longer UnreachedShonaAfrican Traditional Religion
ShonaPG047448ShonaCanada3,000No Longer UnreachedShonaAfrican Traditional Religion

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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