The Yoruba of Cote d’Ivoire

The Yoruba of Cote d’Ivoire, numbering approximately 150,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a West African ethnic group indigenous to Yorubaland, an are that spans the modern-day countries of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. They mostly adhere to Neo-Pentecostalism and Yoruba is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Cote d’Ivoire
People Cluster: Yoruba
Primary Language(s): Yoruba (yor)
Primary Religion(s): Neo-Pentecostalism
Population: 150,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG013151
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Yoruba of Cote d’Ivoire

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: Neo-Pentecostalism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Neo-Pentecostalism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Yoruba
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Yoruba Speakers

Media Resources in Yoruba:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Yoruba:

3 entries

Or check out the Yoruba bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Yoruba 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.

Next steps for the Yoruba:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Yoruba of Cote d’Ivoire

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.
readMark 10:15

Pray for those who might be trapped in pride, that God will humble them and give them a childlike faith and complete dependence on Him through faith in Christ.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
readMatthew 13: 45-46

Pray that they will recognize the treasure of knowing Christ Jesus and be willing to give up everything else to gain Him.

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.
readIsaiah 49:13

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and suffer for their faith, they will sing for joy and be glad in their hearts because the Lord has compassion on them.

Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!
readPsalm 34:3

Pray that God will raise up believers who will go to those in this people group who do not yet follow Jesus, and that they will invite many to magnify the Lord with them so that His fame will spread to the ends of the earth.

Yoruba Across Countries (ROP3 - 111095) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

11 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
YorubaYorubaCanada10,500No Longer UnreachedYorubaNeo-Pentecostalism
YorubaYorubaUnited States152,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaAfrican Traditional Religion
YorubaYorubaTogo144,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaNeo-Pentecostalism
YorubaYorubaSierra Leone7,400No Longer UnreachedYorubaProtestantism
YorubaYorubaNigeria48,890,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaNeo-Pentecostalism
YorubaYorubaNiger90,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaFolk Islam
YorubaYorubaGhana532,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaFolk Islam
YorubaYorubaEquatorial Guinea130,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaProtestantism
YorubaYorubaCote d’Ivoire150,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaNeo-Pentecostalism
YorubaYorubaBurkina Faso85,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaFolk Islam
YorubaYorubaBenin265,000Engaged yet UnreachedYorubaAfrican Traditional Religion

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.

Scroll to Top