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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Tumbuka of Tanzania

The Tumbuka of Tanzania, numbering approximately 301,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a central Bantu ethnolinguistic group indigenous to the Chitipa and Karonga districts of eastern Mali Batumbuka They are an Diaspora people, with Tumbuka as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Bantu, Central-South people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. They mostly adhere to Neo-Pentecostalism and Tumbuka is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Tanzania
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-South
Primary Language(s): Tumbuka (tum)
Primary Religion(s): Neo-Pentecostalism
Population: 301,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG015053

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Pray for the Tumbuka 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: Neo-Pentecostalism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Neo-Pentecostalism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tumbuka
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Tumbuka Speakers

Media Resources in Tumbuka:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Tumbuka:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2002 Bible Society of Malawi✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tumbuka bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Tumbuka 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 Tumbuka:
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 Tumbuka of Tanzania

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
readIsaiah 40:8

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will be freed from the emptiness of fading hopes and find lasting life and truth in the unchanging Word of God.

Let the peoples praise you, O God; let all the peoples praise you!
readPsalm 67:5

While there are many who do not yet praise God, pray that He will work in their lives, advance the gospel among them, and bring many to saving faith in Christ.

More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
readRomans 5:11

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will rejoice in what God has done for them and will help others know how they can also be reconciled to God.

How beautiful upon the mountains are the feet of him who brings good news, who publishes peace, who brings good news of happiness, who publishes salvation, who says to Zion, "Your God reigns”
readIsaiah 52:7

Pray that God will provide open doors for believers who cross cultures to share the good news of salvation with those who need it. Pray that He will give them joy as they see Him move.

Tumbuka Across Countries (ROP3 - 110273) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▼
TumbukaPG015053TumbukaTanzania301,000Engaged yet UnreachedTumbukaNeo-Pentecostalism
TumbukaPG015342TumbukaMalawi1,715,000Engaged yet UnreachedTumbukaEthnoreligion
TumbukaPG015640TumbukaZambia1,880,000Engaged yet UnreachedTumbukaEthnoreligion
TumbukaPG015683TumbukaZimbabwe16,500Engaged yet UnreachedTumbukaEthnoreligion

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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