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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Tongans of New Zealand

The Tongans of New Zealand, numbering approximately 74,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Polynesian ethnic group indigenous to the island nation of Tonga in the south Pacific. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Tonga (Tonga Islands) is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Pacific Islander Peoples
Country: New Zealand
People Cluster: Polynesian
Primary Language(s): Tonga (Tonga Islands) (ton)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 74,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG018511
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Pray for the Tongans of New Zealand

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!
Download Prayer Guide

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

40%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tonga (Tonga Islands)
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Tongan Speakers

Media Resources in Tonga (Tonga Islands):

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Tonga (Tonga Islands):

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Revised West Translation✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tonga (Tonga Islands) bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Tongans 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 Tongans:
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 Tongans of New Zealand

For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?
readPsalm 18:31

As people look to their own efforts for hope, pray they will have the opportunity to learn and believe in the Lord, who is the only Rock worthy of their faith.

For there is one God, and there is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all, which is the testimony given at the proper time.
read1 Timothy 2:5-6

Pray for the truth about Jesus Christ to spread among the lost so that many will accept His ransom for their sin and experience freedom in a relationship with Him.

Remember the wondrous works that he has done, his miracles, and the judgments he uttered.
readPsalm 105:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will rejoice as they remember His wonders, miracles, and perfect judgements.

But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God.
readJohn 1:12

Pray that believers will have the opportunity to clearly share the good news with the lost here, so that all people can be invited to trust in Jesus and become children of God.

Tongan Across Countries (ROP3 - 110155) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

7 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
TongansPG050230TongansAmerican Samoa1,500No Longer UnreachedTonga (Tonga Islands)Protestantism
TongansPG047468TongansCanada1,800No Longer UnreachedTonga (Tonga Islands)Protestantism
TongansPG043655TongansUnited States29,000No Longer UnreachedTonga (Tonga Islands)Protestantism
TongansPG018511TongansNew Zealand74,000No Longer UnreachedTonga (Tonga Islands)Protestantism
TongansPG018437TongansVanuatu350No Longer UnreachedWallisianProtestantism
TongansPG018315TongansTonga101,000No Longer UnreachedTonga (Tonga Islands)Protestantism
TongansPG008240TongansFiji1,500No Longer UnreachedTonga (Tonga Islands)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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