The Nyanja of Eswatini

The Nyanja of Eswatini, numbering approximately 7,300 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Chewa (Nyanja) diaspora community in Eswatini, numbering only a few thousand as the kingdom's most widely used immigrant language, away from the Chewa homeland of Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Chichewa is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Eswatini
People Cluster: Bantu, Chewa-Sena
Primary Language(s): Chichewa (nya)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 7,300
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG015556
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Nyanja of Eswatini

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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Protestantism 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

Bible Resources in Chichewa:

Or check out the Chichewa bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The 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 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 Nyanja of Eswatini

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth.
readRomans 1:18

Pray that God will have mercy and open the eyes of those who don't know Jesus, so that they can turn to the One who is able to save them from their sins.

And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
readLuke 7:50

Pray for the good news of Jesus Christ to reach many so that they can place their faith in Him and have lasting hope.

The point is this: whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.
read2 Corinthians 9:6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember the principle of sowing and reaping, and be generous in their giving and serving, knowing that they will reap a generous harvest.

For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
read2 Corinthians 1:8-9

Pray that as people hear and believe the gospel, they will be faithful as they walk through trials and will have an opportunity to be a witness to others in this people group of the goodness of God.

Nyanja, Chewa Across Countries (ROP3 - 107548) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

6 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▲Religion
NyanjaNyanjaTanzania71,000Engaged yet UnreachedChichewaRoman Catholicism
Chewa NyanjaChewa NyanjaMalawi8,530,000No Longer UnreachedChichewaEthnoreligion
NyanjaNyanjaMozambique1,455,000Engaged yet UnreachedChichewaEthnoreligion
NyanjaNyanjaEswatini7,300No Longer UnreachedChichewaProtestantism
Western NyanjaWestern NyanjaZambia855,000No Longer UnreachedChichewaProtestantism
NyanjaNyanjaZimbabwe818,000Engaged yet 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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