Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Lambya of Malawi

The Lambya of Malawi, numbering approximately 84,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Bantu-speaking ethnic group primarily located in northwestern Malawi (especially in Chitipa District), with smaller populations in Tanzania (Songwe Region) and Zambia. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Lambya is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Malawi
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-Tanzania
Primary Language(s): Lambya (lai)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 84,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG015326
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Pray for the Lambya of Malawi

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: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

98%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Lambya
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Lambya Speakers

Media Resources in Lambya:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Lambya:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Bible Society of Malawi & The Word for the World, 2015✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Lambya bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Lambya 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 Lambya:
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 Lambya of Malawi

In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.
read1 John 4:10

Pray for those without the hope of Christ to understand the depth of God's love and the sacrifice He made for them.

Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
readPsalm 96:7

Pray that entire households will come to faith in Jesus and that God will bless their families with faith in Him for generations to come.

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.
readMatthew 18:20

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be encouraged as they remember that Jesus is with them when they gather in His name.

To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints, and also for me, that words may be given to me in opening my mouth boldly to proclaim the mystery of the gospel.
readEphesians 6:18b-19

Ask God to give believers He sends to the lost of this people group the boldness and clarity to proclaim the mystery of the gospel in a way that people can understand.

Lambya Across Countries (ROP3 - 105616) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▼CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
LambyaPG014973LambyaTanzania116,000No Longer UnreachedLambyaRoman Catholicism
LambyaPG015326LambyaMalawi84,000No Longer UnreachedLambyaEthnoreligion
LambyaPG048540LambyaZambia22,500No Longer UnreachedLambyaEthnoreligion

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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