The Manjak of Senegal

The Manjak of Senegal, numbering approximately 184,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic group indigenous to Guinea-Bissau, Senegal, and the Gambia. They are also known as Manjak, Mandjaque, Njaago. They are an Indigenous people in the Atlantic people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Mandjak and their primary religion is Animism.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Senegal
People Cluster: Atlantic
Primary Language(s): Mandjak (mfv)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 184,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG014250
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Manjak of Senegal

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

87%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Mandjak
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Mandjak Speakers

Media Resources in Mandjak:

Films:

Bible Resources in Mandjak:

Or check out the Mandjak bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 1), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Manjak:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Manjak 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 Manjak:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Manjak 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 Manjak:
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 Manjak of Senegal

The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.
readMatthew 4:16

Pray that those living in darkness and the shadow of death will see a great light and turn to the Lord for salvation.

Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.
readPsalm 119:97

Pray that the lost will have access to God's Word in their language and treasure it deeply, meditating on God's promises and precepts.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
readGalatians 3:28

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be united in Christ across all differences of ethnicity, social status, and gender.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
readJohn 1:5

Pray that when discouraging days come, those who cross cultures for the sake of the gospel will be comforted as they remember that the light of Christ is stronger than the darkness that surrounds them.

Manjak Across Countries (ROP3 - 106236) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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