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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Kanembu of Chad

The Kanembu of Chad, numbering approximately 1,220,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as an ethnic group indigenous to the Lac Prefecture of Chad, considered to be modern descendants of the Kanem-Bornu Empire They are an Indigenous people, with Kanembu as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Kanuri-Saharan people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. Their primary religion is Folk Islam. They primarily speak Kanembu.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Kanembu

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Chad
People Cluster: Kanuri-Saharan
Primary Language(s): Kanembu (kbl)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 1,220,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011374
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Pray for the Kanembu of Chad

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 Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

90%
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kanembu
Language Family: Saharan

100%
%
Kanembu Speakers

Media Resources in Kanembu:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Kanembu:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Kanembu bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Kanembu 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 Kanembu:
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 Kanembu of Chad

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
readRomans 3:23

Pray that those who live in fear, guilt and discontentment because of sin will see their need for change, hear, and receive the good news of freedom from sin through Christ.

And he made from one man every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined allotted periods and the boundaries of their dwelling place, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.
readActs 17:26-27

Pray that the lost will seek God and find Him, for He is not far from each one of us. Pray that they will have opportunities to access the gospel, learn God's purpose for their lives, and believe in Him.

But Jesus called them to him, saying "Let the children come to me, and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of God."
readLuke 18:16

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have a burden to share the hope of Christ with children.

O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart.
readPsalm 15:1-2

Ask God to send believers who will go and, with integrity, walk blamelessly and do what is right, speaking truth about the Lord with those who need to learn about His redemption plan.

Kanembu Across Countries (ROP3 - 104570) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
KanembuPG011374KanembuChad1,220,000Engaged yet UnreachedKanembuFolk Islam
KanembuPG013602KanembuNiger38,500Engaged yet UnreachedKanembuFolk Islam
KanembuPG013904KanembuNigeria2,500Engaged yet UnreachedKanembuFolk Islam

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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