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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!
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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

He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him
readLuke 10:34

Pray that the lost among them will experience the kind of compassion Jesus taught His followers to show others, and that they will trust in Him because He is the one who brings healing to the broken and lost.

After this he went out and saw a tax collector named Levi, sitting at the tax booth. And he said to him, “Follow me.” And leaving everything, he rose and followed him.
readLuke 5:27-28

Prat that God will prepare many hearts to meet Him when He says, “Follow Me!” and that they will respond in faith, leaving everything behind to follow Him.

Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.
readPsalm 37:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will delight themselves in the Lord, trusting Him to give them the desires of their hearts.

But when one turns to the Lord, the veil is removed.
read2 Corinthians 3:16

Give thanks to God for believers around the world who are willing to cross cultures to share the gospel with those who are perishing. Pray that He will work through their witness to draw many to turn to Him.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

7 people groups

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

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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