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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
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The Nyiha of Tanzania

The Nyiha of Tanzania, numbering approximately 888,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Bantu people spanning the Tanzania-Zambia-Malawi border near Lakes Nyasa, Rukwa and Tanganyika, historically organized into a dozen unrelated chiefdoms and decimated by 19th-century slave raiding before colonial rule restored their homeland. They mostly adhere to Animism and Nyiha (Tanzania) is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Tanzania
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-Tanzania
Primary Language(s): Nyiha (Tanzania) (nih)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 888,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG015016
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Pray for the Nyiha of Tanzania

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

60%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Nyiha (Tanzania)
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Nyiha, Tanzania Speakers

Media Resources in Nyiha (Tanzania):

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Nyiha (Tanzania):

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Nyiha (Tanzania) bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Nyiha 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 Nyiha:
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 Nyiha of Tanzania

Abraham said, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together.
readGenesis 22:8

Pray that God will open the ears of those who are lost to understand and believe that only shed blood takes away sin and that, like Abraham, they will believe that God Himself provides the lamb for the burnt offering, who is Jesus the final, perfect sacrifice.

Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.
readPsalm 119:97

Pray that the lost will have access to God's Word in their language and treasure it deeply, meditating on God's promises and precepts.

“The LORD is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him.”
readLamentations 3:24

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and walk through trials, they will be satisfied with the Lord as their portion and will place all their hope in Him.

Oh give thanks to the LORD; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples!
readPsalm 105:1

Pray that many among them will call on the name of Jesus, develop a heart for the nations, and go to places where the gospel has not yet been received.

Nyiha Across Countries (ROP3 - 107560) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
NyihaPG015016NyihaTanzania888,000No Longer UnreachedNyiha (Tanzania)Animism

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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