Ife of Benin (PGID: PG013260)

PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Ife of Benin

The Ife of Benin, numbering approximately 254,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Yoruba-speaking people of Benin who, like related Togo communities, call themselves Ife rather than Yoruba, tracing origin to the sacred city of Ile-Ife and including descendants of 17th-century war refugees who founded communities such as Atakpame. They mostly adhere to Animism and Ifè is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Benin
People Cluster: Yoruba
Primary Language(s): Ifè (ife)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 254,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG013260
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Pray for the Ife of Benin

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: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

65%

Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Ifè
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%

Ifè Speakers

Media Resources in Ifè:

Films:

Title	Link
JESUS	View Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Ifè:

Bible Name (Translation)	Video	Audio	Text
2009 Wycliffe Bible Translators, Inc.	✓	✓	✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Ifè bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Ife 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 Ife:

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 Ife of Benin

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
Psalm 73:26

Pray that those who are lost and struggling to find hope will find their strength and hope in God, recognizing Him as their portion and deliverer forever.

But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.
Mark 4:20

Pray that those who have never encountered the gospel will have the opportunity to receive it, and that it will fall on good soil and bear much fruit.

Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful.
Hebrews 10:23

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will cling tightly to the hope they have in God to faithfully keep His promises.

Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre!
Psalm 149:3

Pray that God will send His people across cultures to share the gospel so that those who don't yet know the truth about Him might praise His name and share the hope of Christ with others.

Ife Across Countries (ROP3 - 103957) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

Engaged yet Unreached UUPG No Longer Unreached

CountryReligion

2 people groups

Photo	People Group ID	Name	Country	Population ▼	Strategic Progress Index	Language	Religion
	PG013260	Ife	Benin	254,000	Engaged yet Unreached	Ifè	Animism
	PG014312	Ana	Togo	203,000	No Longer Unreached	Ifè	Ethnoreligion

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