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The Vezo of Madagascar

The Vezo of Madagascar, numbering approximately 637,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Malagasy people whose name literally means fishing people, identified not by ethnicity but by their maritime way of life along the southwest coast from Morondava to Faux Cap, documented since 1595 living off the sea they regard as sacred. They mostly adhere to Animism and Sakalava Malagasy is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Malay Peoples
Country: Madagascar
People Cluster: Malagasy
Primary Language(s): Sakalava Malagasy (skg)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 637,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG048615
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Pray for the Vezo of Madagascar

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: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

65%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Sakalava Malagasy
Language Family: Austronesian

100%
%
Malagasy, Sakalava Speakers

Media Resources in Sakalava Malagasy:

Films:
Title Link
JESUS View Film
JESUS View Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Sakalava Malagasy:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Sakalava Malagasy bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Vezo 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 Vezo:
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

Pray specifically for the Vezo of Madagascar

I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
readIsaiah 42:8

Pray that lost people will turn from worthless idols to worship the one true God, recognizing that He alone is worthy of all glory and praise.

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.

Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
readPsalm 51:10

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will quickly repent when they sin and walk with clean hearts and right spirits as they grow in their relationship with the Lord.

To the weak I became weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all people, that by all means I might save some.
read1 Corinthians 9:22

Ask God to raise up believers from around the world to go and share the hope of Jesus with the lost so that they might trust in Him and have the hope of eternal life.

Vezo Across Countries (ROP3 - 110559) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

1 people group

Photo People Group ID Name Country Population ▲ Strategic Progress Index Language Religion
Vezo PG048615 Vezo Madagascar 637,000 Engaged yet Unreached Sakalava Malagasy Animism

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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