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The Tzotzils of Mexico

The Tzotzils of Mexico, numbering approximately 777,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Mayan ethnolinguistic community indigenous to the central highlands of Chiapas, Mexico. They mostly adhere to Folk Catholicism and Tzotzil is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Mexico
People Cluster: Maya
Primary Language(s): Tzotzil (tzo)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Catholicism
Population: 777,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG039169

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Pray for the Tzotzils 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

63%
%
Folk Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Tzotzil
Language Family: Mayan

88%
%
Tzotzil Speakers

Media Resources in Tzotzil:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Tzotzil:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2000 Bible Society of Mexico✓
1997 Bible Society of Mexico✓

2 entries

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Tzotzil bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Tzotzils 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 Tzotzils:
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 Tzotzils of Mexico

For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.
readJohn 3:17

Pray for those who are living under the burdens of man-made religion to learn about the freedom Jesus offers them and turn to Him in faith.

The LORD watches over the sojourners; he upholds the widow and the fatherless, but the way of the wicked he brings to ruin.
readPsalm 146:9

Pray for God to watch over people, wherever they are, and cause them to meet believers who will share the gospel with them clearly and lovingly.

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
readActs 2:42

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will devote themselves to God's Word, to fellowship with each other, and to prayer.

And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
readMark 5:20

Pray that God will bring people who appear beyond hope to faith in Jesus and that they will then go and tell others of the marvelous things He has done.

Tzotzil Across Countries (ROP3 - 117158) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
TzotzilsPG039169TzotzilsMexico777,000No Longer UnreachedTzotzilFolk Catholicism
TzotzilsPG049309TzotzilsUnited States78,000No Longer UnreachedTzotzilRoman 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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