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The Manganja Nyanja of Malawi

The Manganja Nyanja of Malawi, numbering approximately 2,705,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are the southern branch of the Maravi peoples who migrated from central Africa into the Shire River valley by the fifteenth century, whose dialect absorbed vocabulary from the Kololo, Lomwe, and Yao neighbors they welcomed among them. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Chichewa is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Nyanja, Mang'anja

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Malawi
People Cluster: Bantu, Chewa-Sena
Primary Language(s): Chichewa (nya)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 2,705,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG015334

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Pray for the Manganja Nyanja 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

93%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Chichewa
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Chichewa Speakers

Media Resources in Chichewa:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Chichewa:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1997 Buku Loyera Version✓
Mawu a Mulungu mu Chichewa Chalero (The Word of God in Contemporary Chichewa)✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Chichewa bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Manganja Nyanja 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 Manganja Nyanja:
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 Manganja Nyanja of Malawi

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.
readRevelation 3:20

Pray that those who have not opened their hearts to Jesus will hear His knock and invite Him in as their Savior and Lord.

And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.
readActs 13:48-49

Pray that the gospel will spread throughout this whole region and that many will believe and embrace the gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.

If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
readColossians 3:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.

Beloved, I pray that all may go well with you and that you may be in good health, as it goes well with your soul.
read3 John 1:2

Ask God to grant protection and good health — both physical and spiritual — to those He sends cross-culturally to share the gospel.

Nyanja, Manganja Across Countries (ROP3 - 116976) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▲
Manganja NyanjaPG015334Manganja NyanjaMalawi2,705,000No Longer UnreachedChichewaEthnoreligion

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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