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Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Kanjobal of Mexico

The Kanjobal of Mexico, numbering approximately 10,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Q'anjob'al Maya people of the Cuchumatanes Mountains spanning Huehuetenango and Chiapas, forcibly Christianized after Pedro de Alvarado's 1520s conquest, later targeted by military violence in the 1970s-80s for suspected guerrilla sympathies. They mostly adhere to Folk Catholicism and Spanish is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Mexico
People Cluster: Maya
Primary Language(s): Spanish (spa)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Catholicism
Population: 10,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG039087
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Pray for the Kanjobal 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

61%
%
Folk Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Spanish
Language Family: Indo-European

100%
%
Spanish Speakers

Media Resources in Spanish:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film
MagdalenaView Film
The SaviorView Film

5 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Spanish:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1569 Sagradas Escrituras✓
1602 Reina-Valera Antigua✓
Biblia de América✓✓✓
Dios Habla Hoy✓
La Biblia✓
La Palabra de Dios para Todos✓
La Santa Biblia, Nueva Versión Internacional®✓
Lenguaje Actual✓
Reina Valera 1995✓
Reina Valera Contemporánea✓
Reina Valera, Revisada y Corregida (1865)✓
The Word of God for All - 2000 World Bible Translation Center✓✓
The Word of God for All 2014✓✓

13 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Spanish bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Kanjobal 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 Kanjobal:
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 Kanjobal of Mexico

Abraham said, "God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son." So they went both of them together.
readGenesis 22:8

Pray that God will open the ears of those who are lost to understand and believe that only shed blood takes away sin and that, like Abraham, they will believe that God Himself provides the lamb for the burnt offering, who is Jesus the final, perfect sacrifice.

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.

Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.
readEphesians 6:18

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be alert and persistent in prayer for all believers, offering their requests with thanksgiving.

The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent.
readActs 17:30

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will boldly and lovingly declare that God commands all people everywhere to repent.

Kanjobal, Western Across Countries (ROP3 - 110785) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountry ▼PopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
KanjobalPG039087KanjobalMexico10,500No Longer UnreachedSpanishFolk Catholicism
Western KanjobalPG024701Western KanjobalGuatemala72,000No Longer UnreachedWestern KanjobalFolk 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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