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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Bambara of Mali

The Bambara of Mali, numbering approximately 7,785,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Mandé-speaking people of Mali and neighboring West African countries who share a common language, cultural heritage, and historical identity rooted in the middle Niger River basin. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Bambara is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Mali
People Cluster: Malinke-Bambara
Primary Language(s): Bambara (bam)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 7,785,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG013534
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Pray for the Bambara of Mali

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: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

94%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bambara
Language Family: Mande

100%
%
Bamanankan Speakers

Media Resources in Bambara:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Bambara:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Alliance Biblique au Mali 1987✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Bambara bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Bambara 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 Bambara:
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 Bambara of Mali

And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
readMatthew 28:16-20

Pray that those who don't yet know Him will encounter the risen Savior and be transformed by the power of His resurrection, becoming disciples who make disciples.

And he said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.”
readLuke 7:50

Pray for the good news of Jesus Christ to reach many so that they can place their faith in Him and have lasting hope.

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.
readPsalm 23:4

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will trust in the Lord's presence, even in the darkest valleys.

And thus I make it my ambition to preach the gospel, not where Christ has already been named, lest I build on someone else's foundation, but as it is written, "Those who have never been told of him will see, and those who have never heard will understand."
readRomans 15:20-21

Pray that God will send believers to cross cultures and proclaim the gospel where Christ has not been named, so that the nations might glorify God for His mercy.

Bambara Across Countries (ROP3 - 100925) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

10 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
BambaraPG013534BambaraMali7,785,000Engaged yet UnreachedBambaraSunni Islam
BambaraPG013042BambaraCote d’Ivoire1,500,000No Longer UnreachedBambaraFolk Islam
French-speaking West AfricansPG047836French-speaking West AfricansFrance133,000Engaged yet UnreachedFrenchSunni Islam
BambaraPG014218BambaraSenegal102,000Unengaged and UnreachedBambaraFolk Islam
BambaraPG013594BambaraNiger60,000Engaged yet UnreachedBambaraFolk Islam
BambaraPG013579BambaraMauritania27,000Unengaged and UnreachedBambaraFolk Islam
BambaraPG013227BambaraGambia26,000Unengaged and UnreachedBambaraFolk Islam
BambaraPG012371BambaraBurkina Faso7,900Engaged yet UnreachedBambaraFolk Islam
BambaraPG013399BambaraGuinea6,200Unengaged and UnreachedBambaraSunni Islam
BambaraPG047650BambaraUnited States5,700Engaged yet UnreachedBambaraSunni 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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