The Zeliang Naga of India

The Zeliang Naga of India, numbering approximately 107,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Naga group of Nagaland combining the Zemei and Liangmei peoples, who migrated from Manipur in the remote past. Shifting and terrace agriculture remain primary, and most are Christian, alongside traditional tribal religion. They are an Indigenous people in the Tangsa Naga people cluster of the South Asian Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Naga, Zeme and their primary religion is Protestantism.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash Lite: Naga, Zeliang

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: South Asian Peoples
Country: India
People Cluster: Tangsa Naga
Primary Language(s): Naga, Zeme (nzm)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 107,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG041995
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Pray for the Zeliang Naga of India

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

87%
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Naga, Zeme
Language Family: Sino-Tibetan

100%
%
Naga, Zeme Speakers

Media Resources in Naga, Zeme:

Films:

Bible Resources in Naga, Zeme:

Or check out the Naga, Zeme bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 2), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Significantly Reached People Group, (LPI: 6), > 20% or Greater Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical (GSEC: 6), this people group is greater than or equal to 10% evangelical

Next steps for the Zeliang Naga:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Zeliang Naga are Engaged yet Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations but there are sustained efforts at establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Next steps for the Zeliang Naga:
Continue prayer and fasting for this group
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Begin training up local leaders to lead and develop strategies to reach their own people

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Zeliang Naga 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 Zeliang Naga:
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 Zeliang Naga of India

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
readRomans 5:7-8

Pray for the many who don't yet understand the hope of the gospel, and pray that God will reveal to them that while they were in darkness, Christ died for them.

More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
readRomans 5:11

Pray for the gospel to advance and for more people to be brought into God's family through the reconciliation Jesus offers them.

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 I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
readRomans 1:16

Pray that God will raise up sons and daughters who, like Paul, will be bold to share the gospel across cultural barriers so that many might receive salvation.

Naga, Zeliang Across Countries (ROP3 - 113911) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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