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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Kari of Central African Republic

The Kari of Central African Republic, numbering approximately 179,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a southern Mbum people of the mountains around Bocaranga in the Central African Republic's Ouham-Pende prefecture, whose ancestors fled Fulani raids on the Adamawa Plateau in the early 1800s to settle this borderland with Cameroon. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Kare (Central African Republic) is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Central African Republic
People Cluster: Adamawa-Ubangi
Primary Language(s): Kare (Central African Republic) (kbn)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 179,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012879
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Pray for the Kari of Central African Republic

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: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

—
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kare (Central African Republic)
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Kare (Central African Republic) Speakers

Media Resources in Kare (Central African Republic):

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Kare (Central African Republic):

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Kare (Central African Republic) bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Kari 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 Kari:
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 Kari of Central African Republic

And Mary said, "My soul magnifies the Lord, and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior."
readLuke 1:46-47

Pray that those who are lost will recognize their need for a Savior and joyfully embrace the mercy that God offers.

Ascribe to the LORD, O families of the peoples, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength!
readPsalm 96:7

Pray that entire households will come to faith in Jesus and that God will bless their families with faith in Him for generations to come.

In God, whose word I praise, in the LORD, whose word I praise, in God I trust; I shall not be afraid. What can man do to me?
readPsalm 56:10-11

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will trust in the Lord's promises, knowing that He will uphold them with His righteous right hand.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace toward me was not in vain. On the contrary, I worked harder than any of them, though it was not I, but the grace of God that is with me. Whether then it was I or they, so we preach and so you believed.
read1 Corinthians 15:10–11

Pray that God's people will preach the message of Jesus' death and resurrection and that it will spread among the lost through the selfless witness of believers.

Kari Across Countries (ROP3 - 104664) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
KariPG012879KariCentral African Republic179,000Engaged yet UnreachedKare (Central African Republic)Ethnoreligion
KarrePG012635KarreCameroon9,300No Longer UnreachedKare (Central African Republic)Folk 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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