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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Bambara of Mali

The Bambara of Mali, numbering approximately 7,795,000 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: 7,795,000
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

We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.
readRomans 6:4

Pray that those who need to surrender their lives to Christ will confess their sins and trust in Him, being united with Him in His death and resurrection, walking in newness of life.

For my eyes have seen your salvation that you have prepared in the presence of all peoples.
readLuke 2:30

Pray that the lost will see the salvation of God, and that they will trust in Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord.

"...I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it."
readMatthew 16:18b

Pray that God will build and grow His Church among this people.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
readRomans 6:23

Pray that God will bring people to faith who are excited about the eternal life they have in Christ and will want to cross cultures to share this hope with others.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

10 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▲NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
BambaraPG012371BambaraBurkina Faso7,900Engaged yet UnreachedBambaraFolk Islam
BambaraPG013042BambaraCote d’Ivoire1,500,000No Longer UnreachedBambaraFolk Islam
BambaraPG013227BambaraGambia26,000Unengaged and UnreachedBambaraFolk Islam
BambaraPG013399BambaraGuinea6,200Unengaged and UnreachedBambaraSunni Islam
BambaraPG013534BambaraMali7,795,000Engaged yet UnreachedBambaraSunni Islam
BambaraPG013579BambaraMauritania27,000Unengaged and UnreachedBambaraFolk Islam
BambaraPG013594BambaraNiger60,000Engaged yet UnreachedBambaraFolk Islam
BambaraPG014218BambaraSenegal102,000Unengaged and UnreachedBambaraFolk Islam
BambaraPG047650BambaraUnited States5,700Engaged yet UnreachedBambaraSunni Islam
French-speaking West AfricansPG047836French-speaking West AfricansFrance133,000Engaged yet UnreachedFrenchSunni 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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