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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Central Zoque of Mexico

The Central Zoque of Mexico, numbering approximately 89,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are descendants of one of Mesoamerica's oldest language communities, tracing ancestry to Pacific coastal Chiapas farmers who shifted to maize cultivation nearly 6,000 years ago and whose Mixe-Zoquean tongue is linked to the ancient Olmec civilization. They mostly adhere to Folk Catholicism and Spanish is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Latin American and Caribbean Peoples
Country: Mexico
People Cluster: Mixe
Primary Language(s): Spanish (spa)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Catholicism
Population: 89,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG039235
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Pray for the Central Zoque 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

67%
%
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 Central Zoque 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 Central Zoque:
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 Central Zoque of Mexico

Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.
readLuke 15:7

Pray that God will convict the lost of their sin, give them an urgency to run to Him for forgiveness, and feel His welcoming arms around them when they turn to Him.

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 he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition!"
readMark 7:9

Pray that as men, women, boys, and girls place their faith in Christ, they will let go of any traditions that do not honor Him.

For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
readActs 13:47

Pray that as people come to faith, they will follow the Lord's leading to go to their neighbors and share the treasure they found in Christ.

Zoque, Francisco Leon Across Countries (ROP3 - 103051) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Central ZoquePG039235Central ZoqueMexico89,500No Longer UnreachedSpanishFolk 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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