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The Southeastern Chinantec of Mexico

The Southeastern Chinantec of Mexico, numbering approximately 40,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Chinantec people whose fifteenth-century founders from Chiltepec Viejo conquered Oaxaca's Choapam district and displaced resident Zapotec and Mixe communities, settling San Juan Lalana in Mexico's Papaloapan River basin. They mostly adhere to Folk Catholicism and Lalana Chinantec is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Chinantec, Southeastern

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Mexico
People Cluster: Zapotec
Primary Language(s): Lalana Chinantec (cnl)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Catholicism
Population: 40,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG039057
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Pray for the Southeastern Chinantec of Mexico

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: Folk Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

73%
%
Folk Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Lalana Chinantec
Language Family: Otomanguean

86%
%
Chinantec, Lalana Speakers

Media Resources in Lalana Chinantec:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Lalana Chinantec:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2012 Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc.✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Lalana Chinantec bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Southeastern Chinantec 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 Southeastern Chinantec:
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 Southeastern Chinantec of Mexico

For at one time you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of light.
readEphesians 5:8

Pray that those who are lost will turn from the darkness they are walking in and embrace the light, becoming children of light who bear fruit in every good work.

As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.
readMatthew 13:23

Pray that their hearts will have good soil that receives the Word, understands it, and bears fruit for God's kingdom.

Sanctify them in the truth, your word is truth.
readJohn 17:17

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will experience freedom from sin as God sanctifies them in the truth of His Word.

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.

Chinantec, Lalana Across Countries (ROP3 - 105601) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Southeastern ChinantecPG039057Southeastern ChinantecMexico40,000No Longer UnreachedLalana ChinantecFolk 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.

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