The Portuguese of Zambia

The Portuguese of Zambia, numbering approximately 3,900 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Southwestern European people native to Portugal whose culture has been shaped by Atlantic maritime traditions, the Iberian environment, Roman and medieval influences, Roman Catholic heritage, and centuries of overseas exploration and global exchange. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Portuguese is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Eurasian Peoples
Country: Zambia
People Cluster: Portuguese, European
Primary Language(s): Portuguese (por)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 3,900
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG015623
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Portuguese 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

95%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Portuguese
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Portuguese Speakers

Media Resources in Portuguese:

Films:
Title Link
JESUS View Film
JESUS View Film
Magdalena View Film
Magdalena View Film
The Savior View Film

5 films

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Portuguese 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 Portuguese:
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 Portuguese of Zambia

Claiming to be wise, they became fools.
readRomans 1:22

Ask God to pour out His mercy and bring those who are walking in their own wisdom to faith in Jesus.

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 those who don't know the good news of peace and salvation through Jesus Christ will have an opportunity to receive it. Pray that it will bring hope and healing to their souls.

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.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
read1 Corinthians 15:10–11

Pray that God's people will preach the message of Jesus' death and resurrection and that it will spread among the lost through the selfless witness of believers.

Portuguese Across Countries (ROP3 - 108129) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

20 people groups

Photo People Group ID Name Country Population ▼ Strategic Progress Index Language Religion
Portuguese Portuguese Portugal 9,525,000 Engaged yet Unreached Portuguese Roman Catholicism
Portuguese Portuguese South Africa 1,090,000 Engaged yet Unreached Portuguese Roman Catholicism
Portuguese Portuguese France 984,000 No Longer Unreached Portuguese Roman Catholicism
Portuguese Portuguese United States 863,000 No Longer Unreached Portuguese Roman Catholicism
Portuguese Portuguese Canada 309,000 No Longer Unreached Portuguese Roman Catholicism
Portuguese Portuguese Switzerland 269,000 Engaged yet Unreached Portuguese Roman Catholicism
Portuguese Portuguese Venezuela 240,000 No Longer Unreached Portuguese Roman Catholicism
Portuguese Portuguese United Kingdom 177,000 Engaged yet Unreached Portuguese Roman Catholicism
Portuguese Portuguese Germany 143,000 Engaged yet Unreached Portuguese Roman Catholicism
Portuguese Portuguese Luxembourg 103,000 Engaged yet Unreached Portuguese Roman Catholicism
Portuguese Portuguese Spain 93,500 Engaged yet Unreached Portuguese Roman Catholicism
Portuguese Portuguese Belgium 56,500 Engaged yet Unreached Portuguese Roman Catholicism
Portuguese Portuguese Mozambique 28,500 Engaged yet Unreached Portuguese Roman Catholicism
Portuguese Portuguese Malawi 21,500 Engaged yet Unreached Portuguese Roman Catholicism
Portuguese Portuguese Argentina 18,000 No Longer Unreached Portuguese Roman Catholicism
Portuguese Portuguese Zimbabwe 16,000 Engaged yet Unreached Portuguese Roman Catholicism
Portuguese Portuguese Andorra 11,500 Unengaged and Unreached Portuguese Roman Catholicism
Portuguese Portuguese Macao 10,500 No Longer Unreached Portuguese Roman Catholicism
Portuguese Portuguese Guinea-Bissau 6,600 Unengaged and Unreached Portuguese Roman Catholicism
Portuguese Portuguese Zambia 3,900 Engaged yet Unreached Portuguese Roman Catholicism

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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