The Zapotec of United States

The Zapotec of United States, numbering approximately 3,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnic group indigenous to the state of Oaxaca, Mexico They are an Diaspora people, in the Zapotec people cluster of the Latin American and Caribbean Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Christianity - Protestantism. They primarily speak Zapotec, Western Tlacolula Valley.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Zapotec

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: American Peoples
Country: United States
People Cluster: Zapotec
Primary Language(s): Zapotec, Western Tlacolula Valley (zab)
Primary Religion(s): Christianity - Protestantism
Population: 3,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG047346

Pray for the Zapotec of United States

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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Christianity - Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

%
Christianity - Protestant… Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Zapotec, Western Tlacolula Valley
Language Family: Otomanguean

%
Zapotec, Western Tlacolula Valley Speakers

Media Resources in Zapotec, Western Tlacolula Valley:

Films:

Bible Resources in Zapotec, Western Tlacolula Valley:

Linked from YouVersion

Next steps for the Zapotec

The Zapotec are Unengaged and Unreached, 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.

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

Next steps for the Zapotec

The Zapotec 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.

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

Next steps for the Zapotec

The Zapotec 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.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Zapotec of United States

He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him
readLuke 10:34

Pray that the lost among them will experience the kind of compassion Jesus taught His followers to show others, and that they will trust in Him because He is the one who brings healing to the broken and lost.

For I will proclaim the name of the LORD; ascribe greatness to our God!
readDeuteronomy 32:3

Pray that believers will proclaim the Lord’s name and declare the greatness of our God so that others might believe in Him.

Jesus said, ‘Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life.
readMark 10:29-30

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will know that when they make sacrifices to follow Jesus, He is there with them and will bless them abundantly in this life and in the life to come.

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.

Zapotec (ROP3 - 117154) 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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