Prototype rebuild by the IMB Innovation Team. The official site is peoplegroups.org.

People group profile · PG024707

The Chorti of Guatemala

The Chorti of Guatemala, numbering about 122,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Maya people of Guatemala's Chiquimula department whose language descends from Classic Maya, the language of the Copan inscriptions, holding ancestral land titles registered in archives dating to 1672, despite massacres during the 1960s-80s violence.

They are an indigenous people in the Maya people cluster of the Latin American and Caribbean Peoples. Their primary religion is Folk Catholicism, and they primarily speak Chortí.

Pray for the ChortiPrint profile

AI-generated illustration representing the Chorti people
AI-generated illustration, not a photograph. Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Chorti

Fast facts

Country
Guatemala
Population
122,000
Affinity group
American Peoples
People cluster
Maya
Primary language
Chortí (caa)
Primary religion
Folk Catholicism
Strategic Progress Index
Engaged yet Unreached
Evangelical
Less than 2%
GSEC
Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
Lostness priority
Expanding Unreached People Group
Region
Central America, Americas
Location
Chiquimula and Zacapa departments; eastern border with Honduras

Where they live

Gospel status

The Chorti are Engaged yet Unreached, which means fewer than 2% are evangelical Christians, but there are sustained efforts to establish self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. In GSEC terms, this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years.

  • Congregations exist Yes
  • Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted

Next steps for the Chorti

  • 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

Primary religion

Folk Catholicism · Christianity

85% adherents

Primary language

Chortí · Mayan family

15% speak Chortí

Gospel resources in Chortí

  • Bible available, published 2012
  • JESUS Film not available
  • Radio programs not available
  • Gospel recordings available
  • Audio resources available
  • Bible stories not available

Bibles

Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.

Pray for the Chorti

  1. Psalm 27:1. Pray that new believers will be strengthened in the face of persecution, with the Lord as their stronghold.
  2. Romans 12:4–5. Pray that believers from many cultures will work together as one body so that the church is built up.
  3. Revelation 7:9. Pray for the day when people from this group stand before the throne with every nation, tribe, people and language.
  4. John 17:3. Pray that many will come to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.

Download a prayer guide

Chorti in other countries

The same people (ROP3 102193) is reported in 1 other country.

People groupCountryPopulationStatus
ChortiHonduras7,800Engaged yet Unreached

Know something we don't? Submit updates to IMB Global Research.