The Soninke of Gambia

The Soninke of Gambia, numbering approximately 204,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a West African Mnade-speaking ethnic group inhabiting Mali, southern Mauritania, eastern Senegal, The Gambia, and Guinea. They mostly adhere to Folk Islam and Soninke is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Gambia
People Cluster: Soninke
Primary Language(s): Soninke (snk)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 204,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG013244
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Soninke of Gambia

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: Folk Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Soninke
Language Family: Mande

100%
%
Soninke Speakers

Media Resources in Soninke:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Soninke:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Soninke bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Soninke 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 Soninke:
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 Soninke of Gambia

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.
readActs 4:12

Pray that those walking in darkness among them will come to know the name by which they must be saved, and call upon Him in faith.

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.

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!
readPsalm 133:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be unified and love one another as God loves them.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
read1 Corinthians 15:10–11

Pray that God's people will preach the message of Jesus' death and resurrection and that it will spread among the lost through the selfless witness of believers.

Soninke Across Countries (ROP3 - 109413) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

7 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress Index ▼LanguageReligion
SoninkeSoninkeUnited States5,200Engaged yet UnreachedSoninkeSunni Islam
SoninkeSoninkeSenegal635,000Engaged yet UnreachedSoninkeFolk Islam
SoninkeSoninkeMauritania151,000Engaged yet UnreachedSoninkeFolk Islam
SoninkeSoninkeMali2,295,000Engaged yet UnreachedSoninkeSunni Islam
SoninkeSoninkeGuinea-Bissau11,500Engaged yet UnreachedSoninkeFolk Islam
SoninkeSoninkeGambia204,000Engaged yet UnreachedSoninkeFolk Islam
SoninkeSoninkeCote d’Ivoire241,000Engaged yet UnreachedSoninkeSunni 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.

Scroll to Top