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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Wolof of Senegal

The Wolof of Senegal, numbering approximately 6,860,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a West African ethnic group indigenous to northwestern Senegal, the Gambia, and southwestern coastal Mauritania. They are an Indigenous people, in the Atlantic-Wolof people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Folk. They primarily speak Wolof.

Wolof in The Gambia photo
Photo courtesy of Joshua Project. Photo Source: Copyrighted ©️ 2025 Kerry Olson Used with permission

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-saharan Africa Peoples
Country: Senegal
People Cluster: Atlantic-Wolof
Primary Language(s): Wolof (wol)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Folk
Population: 6,860,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG014267

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Pray for the Wolof of Senegal

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Folk
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Folk Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Wolof
Language Family: Niger-Congo

%
Wolof Speakers

Media Resources in Wolof:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Wolof:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Wolof bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Wolof

The Wolof are Unengaged and Unreached, 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.

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

Next steps for the Wolof

The Wolof 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.

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

Next steps for the Wolof

The Wolof 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.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Wolof of Senegal

Every word of God proves true; he is a shield to those who take refuge in him.
readProverbs 30:5

Pray that those who don't yet know God will trust the flawless Word of God and seek refuge in Him, finding hope and salvation instead of remaining in spiritual darkness.

Crispus, the ruler of the synagogue, believed in the Lord, together with his entire household. And many of the Corinthians hearing Paul believed and were baptized.
readActs 18:8

Pray that rulers and leaders will access the gospel, respond in faith, and be baptized, uniting with Christ and His Church, and influence others to follow Him.

I wait for the LORD, my soul waits, and in his word I hope.
readPsalm 130:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will wait on the Lord and have patience and trust, knowing His ways and His timing are always perfect.

And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
readMark 5:20

Pray that God will bring people who appear beyond hope to faith in Jesus and that they will then go and tell others of the marvelous things He has done.

Wolof reported in the following countries (ROP3):

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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