The Kalanga of Zimbabwe

The Kalanga of Zimbabwe, numbering approximately 282,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Bantu ethnic group primarily found in southwestern Zimbabwe and northern Botswana, with smaller populations in South Africa. They are one of the oldest and most historically significant communities in Southern Africa. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Kalanga is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Zimbabwe
People Cluster: Bantu, Shona
Primary Language(s): Kalanga (kck)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 282,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG015658
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Kalanga of Zimbabwe

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: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

60%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kalanga
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

50%
%
Kalanga Speakers

Media Resources in Kalanga:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Kalanga:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2008 Bible Society of Botswana✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Kalanga bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Kalanga 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 Kalanga:
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 Kalanga of Zimbabwe

Hear, O LORD, and be merciful to me! O LORD, be my helper!
readPsalm 30:10

Pray that people in the depths of despair and suffering and living outside of relationship with Christ will cry out to the Lord and find help, peace, and joy in Him.

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God by the death of his Son, much more, now that we are reconciled, shall we be saved by his life.
readRomans 5:10

Pray that God will remove obstacles to the gospel so that many will see the hope He offers through the death, burial, and resurrection of His Son, and be transformed from being enemies to being His friends.

For this reason, when I could bear it no longer, I sent to learn about your faith, for fear that somehow the tempter had tempted you and our labor would be in vain.
read2 Thessalonians 3:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will persevere according to God's command, walk in faith, and be strong so that they can resist the evil one’s deception.

At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ...that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.
readColossians 4:3-4

Ask God to open doors for believers to share the gospel and help them communicate it clearly so that more people will understand the mystery of Christ and turn to follow Him.

Kalanga Across Countries (ROP3 - 104460) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

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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