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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Maninka of United States

The Maninka of United States, numbering approximately 5,700 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Mande diaspora people of West African Maninka origin, descended from communities linked to the historic Mali Empire who maintain ties to the broader Manding cultural and linguistic tradition. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Western Maninkakan is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Maninka

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: United States
People Cluster: Malinke
Primary Language(s): Western Maninkakan (mlq)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 5,700
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG047665
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Pray for the Maninka of United States

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: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

80%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Western Maninkakan
Language Family: Mande

100%
%
Maninkakan, Western Speakers

Media Resources in Western Maninkakan:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Western Maninkakan:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Western Maninkakan bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Maninka 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 Maninka:
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 Maninka of United States

The Lord is a stronghold for the oppressed, a stronghold in times of trouble. And those who know your name put their trust in you, for you, O Lord, have not forsaken those who seek you.
readPsalm 9:9-10

Pray that God will help those who are oppressed and without hope to hear the good news of Jesus and trust in Him, for He has never forsaken those who seek Him.

And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.
readLuke 2:17

Pray that the lost will receive the good news of salvation in God's Son, have hearts eager to share it with others, and that all who hear will respond with wonder and faith!

For you did not receive the spirit of slavery to fall back into fear, but you have received the Spirit of adoption as sons, by whom we cry, “Abba! Father!”
readRomans 8:15

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will remember the God who has given them freedom from fear so that they will trust Him completely as their good Father who meets all their needs.

O LORD, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart.
readPsalm 15:1-2

Ask God to send believers who will go and, with integrity, walk blamelessly and do what is right, speaking truth about the Lord with those who need to learn about His redemption plan.

Maninka, Western Across Countries (ROP3 - 106266) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
ManinkaPG047665ManinkaUnited States5,700Engaged yet UnreachedWestern ManinkakanSunni Islam
ManinkaPG014251ManinkaSenegal680,000Engaged yet UnreachedWestern ManinkakanFolk Islam
ManinkaPG013557ManinkaMali775,000Engaged yet UnreachedWestern ManinkakanSunni Islam
ManinkaPG012420ManinkaBurkina Faso194,000Engaged yet UnreachedWestern ManinkakanFolk 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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