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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Nyiha of Zambia

The Nyiha of Zambia, numbering approximately 10,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Bantu ethnolinguistic people of northeastern Zambia who are part of a wider Nyiha population extending into southwestern Tanzania and are historically associated with the highlands between Lakes Nyasa, Rukwa, and Tanganyika. They mostly adhere to Animism and Nyika (Malawi and Zambia) 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: Zambia
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-Tanzania
Primary Language(s): Nyika (Malawi and Zambia) (nkv)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 10,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG015622
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Pray for the Nyiha of Zambia

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: Nyika (Malawi and Zambia)
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Nyika Speakers

Media Resources in Nyika (Malawi and Zambia):

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Nyika (Malawi and Zambia):

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Nyika (Malawi and Zambia) 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 Zambia

And Samuel said to Saul, “You have done foolishly. You have not kept the command of the Lord your God, with which he commanded you."
read1 Samuel 13:13a

Pray that those who are walking in disobedience will recognize their sin and to turn to God.

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.
readPsalm 22:27-28

Pray that entire families will turn to the Lord in repentance and faith, and that they will worship Him and declare His righteousness to the nations.

Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O LORD, God of host.
readJeremiah 15:16

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will find joy and delight in the Word of the Lord.

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
readActs 17:30

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will boldly and lovingly declare that God commands all people everywhere to repent.

Nyika Across Countries (ROP3 - 115458) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
NyihaPG015622NyihaZambia10,500No Longer UnreachedNyika (Malawi and Zambia)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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