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The Lingala of Central African Republic

The Lingala of Central African Republic, numbering approximately 19,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Lingala-speaking community in the Central African Republic, largely linked to Congolese migration, that preserves the language and cultural traditions of the Congo River region. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Lingala is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Central African Republic
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-Congo
Primary Language(s): Lingala (lin)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 19,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012888
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Pray for the Lingala of Central African Republic

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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Lingala
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Lingala Speakers

Media Resources in Lingala:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Lingala:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1982 Boyokant Ya Sika✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Lingala bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Lingala 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 Lingala:
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 Lingala of Central African Republic

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them.
readRomans 1:19

Pray that God will use testimony of creation to cause those who do not yet know the gospel to long for truth and a relationship with the Author of life.

For your steadfast love is great to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.
readPsalm 57:10

Pray that God will work, even in the hearts of hard-to-reach people, and that they will rejoice in His steadfast love and faithfulness.

And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.
readActs 2:46-47

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be devoted to the teaching of God's Word, to fellowship with one another, and to prayer.

And the ransomed of the LORD shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
readIsaiah 51:11

Pray that, as God sends people to cross cultures and share the good news of Jesus, many will turn to the Lord in repentance and faith and start a personal relationship with Him that will bring them everlasting joy.

Lingala Across Countries (ROP3 - 105785) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

9 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▼CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
LingalaPG012081LingalaSouth Sudan49,500Unengaged and UnreachedLingalaSunni Islam
LingalaPG012888LingalaCentral African Republic19,000Engaged yet UnreachedLingalaProtestantism
LingalaPG012981LingalaCongo189,000Engaged yet UnreachedLingalaProtestantism
LingalaPG015177LingalaAngola200,000Engaged yet UnreachedLingalaEthnoreligion
LingalaPG047445LingalaCanada3,500No Longer UnreachedLingalaProtestantism
LingalaPG050322LingalaCongo, Democratic Republic of the4,315,000No Longer UnreachedLingalaRoman Catholicism
CongolesePG000063CongoleseBelgium15,500No Longer UnreachedLingalaRoman Catholicism
CongolesePG015104CongoleseUganda28,000No Longer UnreachedLingalaNeo-Pentecostalism
CongolesePG047246CongoleseUnited States38,000No Longer UnreachedLingalaNeo-Pentecostalism

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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