Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
Be sure to use the data import function in your favorite app for working with data.
If you'd like to help improve these translations, Contact Us.

PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Mopan Maya of Guatemala

The Mopan Maya of Guatemala, numbering approximately 8,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Maya people whose pre-colonial Peten homeland spanned the Belize-Guatemala border, forced by the British into Guatemala in the 1700s-1800s, then driven back into Belize in 1886 to escape taxation and forced labor, founding San Antonio village in 1889. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Mopán Maya is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Mopan Maya

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Guatemala
People Cluster: Maya
Primary Language(s): Mopán Maya (mop)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 8,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG024732
View on Joshua Project

Print Profile
Submit Updates

Pray for the Mopan Maya of Guatemala

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: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

—
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Mopán Maya
Language Family: Mayan

100%
%
Maya, Mopán Speakers

Media Resources in Mopán Maya:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Mopán Maya:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2004 Wycliffe Bible Translators Inc.✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Mopán Maya bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Mopan Maya 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 Mopan Maya:
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 Mopan Maya of Guatemala

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or?rulers?or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.
readColossians 1:16

Pray for those who are lost among them, that they will come to know the One who created all things and holds all things together.

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.

But in your hearts honor Christ the Lord as holy, always being prepared to make a defense to anyone who asks you for a reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.
read1 Peter 3:15

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will always be prepared to share the reason for the hope that they have in Jesus with gentleness and respect.

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.
readRomans 9:16

Ask God to raise up people who will trust in His sovereignty as they share the gospel, knowing that it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God who has mercy.

Maya, Mopan Across Countries (ROP3 - 106783) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Mopan MayaPG016206Mopan MayaBelize16,500No Longer UnreachedMopán MayaFolk Catholicism
Mopan MayaPG024732Mopan MayaGuatemala8,000No Longer UnreachedMopán MayaEthnoreligion
Mopan MayaPG050487Mopan MayaCanada3,300No Longer UnreachedMopán MayaRoman 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.

Scroll to Top