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The Zaiwa of Myanmar

The Zaiwa of Myanmar, numbering approximately 38,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Miri-Kachin-speaking ethnolinguistic group indigenous to parts of southwest China and eastern Myanmar. They mostly adhere to Animism and Zaiwa is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Himalayan Peoples
Country: Myanmar
People Cluster: Miri-Kachin
Primary Language(s): Zaiwa (atb)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 38,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG009407
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Pray for the Zaiwa of Myanmar

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: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

70%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Zaiwa
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

100%
%
Zaiwa Speakers

Media Resources in Zaiwa:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Zaiwa:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc.✓
Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc. 2009✓✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Zaiwa bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Zaiwa 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 Zaiwa:
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 Zaiwa of Myanmar

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
readEphesians 6:12

Pray for those ensnared by the darkness of this world, that they will recognize the spiritual forces at work and turn to the light of Christ.

For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.
read2 Timothy 4:3-4

Pray that the lost will be open to the truth of the gospel and turn from false teachings and myths to the sound doctrine of Christ in faith.

You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.
readIsaiah 26:3

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, the Lord will keep them in perfect peace as they trust in Him.

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe."
readJohn 6:35-36

Praise God for the things such as bread that He has provided as natural conversation bridges to the gospel. Pray that believers will use any bridges He provides to share the gospel with those who do not yet know the good news.

Zaiwa Across Countries (ROP3 - 110204) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
ZaiwaPG007451ZaiwaChina143,000No Longer UnreachedZaiwaChinese Folk Religion
ZaiwaPG009407ZaiwaMyanmar38,500No Longer UnreachedZaiwaAnimism
ZaiwaPG050381ZaiwaUnited States1,200No Longer UnreachedZaiwaAnimism

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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