The Tsonga of Zimbabwe

The Tsonga of Zimbabwe, numbering approximately 5,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Bantu ethnolinguistic group indigenous to southern Mozambique and the Limpopo and Mpumalanga provinces of South Africa. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Tsonga is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Zimbabwe
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-Southeast
Primary Language(s): Tsonga (tso)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 5,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG015680
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Tsonga 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: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

80%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tsonga
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Tsonga Speakers

Media Resources in Tsonga:

Films:
Title Link
JESUS View Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Tsonga:

Bible Name (Translation) Video Audio Text
Sociedade Bíblica de Moçambique, 2014 ✓ ✓

1 entry

Or check out the Tsonga bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Tsonga 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 Tsonga:
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 Tsonga of Zimbabwe

I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring and her offspring; he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel.
readGenesis 3:15

Pray that those without Christ will hear the words of Genesis 1-3 in their own language, and desire to know their Creator and His provision of salvation.

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed"
readGalatians 3:8

Ask the Lord to fulfill His promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed by advancing the gospel to every people group who has yet to receive it.

The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; you hold my lot... indeed, I have a beautiful inheritance.
readPsalm 16:5-6

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and face hardship, they will remember that God is their portion and cup and that He has a beautiful inheritance for them.

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
readJohn 3:16

Pray that God will send and sustain believers to cross cultures and share the gospel with the lost. Ask that He will give them His heart for the lost and that many will believe in Him and not perish but have eternal life.

Tsonga Across Countries (ROP3 - 110220) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

4 people groups

Photo People Group ID Name Country Population ▼ Strategic Progress Index Language Religion
Tsonga Tsonga Mozambique 4,065,000 Engaged yet Unreached Tsonga Ethnoreligion
Tsonga-Shangaan Tsonga-Shangaan South Africa 2,630,000 No Longer Unreached Tsonga Protestantism
Tsonga Tsonga Eswatini 28,000 No Longer Unreached Tsonga Protestantism
Tsonga Tsonga Zimbabwe 5,500 No Longer Unreached Tsonga Protestantism

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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