The Caboverdean Mesticos of Portugal

The Caboverdean Mesticos of Portugal, numbering approximately 80,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Creole population of Cabo Verde with mixed African and Portuguese ancestry. They primarily speak Kriolu and Portuguese and maintain a distinctive island culture shaped by West African and Iberian influences. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Portuguese is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Caboverdian Mestico

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Portugal
People Cluster: Other Sub-Saharan African
Primary Language(s): Portuguese (por)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 80,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG000474
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Pray for the Caboverdean Mesticos of Portugal

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

90%
%
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 Caboverdean Mesticos 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 Caboverdean Mesticos:
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 Caboverdean Mesticos of Portugal

During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
readExodus 2:23-24

As the lost among them labor, groan, and cry out under false religions and sin, pray God will have mercy on them and hear their cries, that He will be their Rescuer from the kingdom of darkness and bring them into the kingdom of light.

Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.
readIsaiah 43:19

Pray that the lost will see the new thing God can do in their lives and trust in His plan and purpose for them.

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness.
readActs 4:31

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be filled with the Holy Spirit and speak God's Word with boldness, sharing the love of Jesus with those around them.

"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.

Caboverdean Mestico Across Countries (ROP3 - 101838) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

6 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress Index ▼LanguageReligion
Caboverdean MesticosCaboverdean MesticosCanada200No Longer UnreachedKabuverdianuRoman Catholicism
Caboverdean MesticosCaboverdean MesticosUnited States310,000No Longer UnreachedEnglishRoman Catholicism
Caboverdean MesticosCaboverdean MesticosSenegal54,500No Longer UnreachedKabuverdianuRoman Catholicism
Caboverdean MesticosCaboverdean MesticosCabo Verde503,000No Longer UnreachedKabuverdianuRoman Catholicism
Caboverdean MesticosCaboverdean MesticosPortugal80,500Engaged yet UnreachedPortugueseRoman Catholicism
Caboverdean MesticosCaboverdean MesticosSpain3,100Unengaged and UnreachedKabuverdianuRoman 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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