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The Gbe, Xwla of Benin

The Gbe, Xwla of Benin, numbering approximately 112,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Gbe-speaking coastal people of the Benin-Togo border strip near Grand-Popo and Aneho, tracing ancestry to Tado alongside the Fon and Ewe, whose founding of coastal towns shaped the wider Phla-Phera Gbe cluster. They mostly adhere to Animism and Western Xwla Gbe is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Benin
People Cluster: Guinean
Primary Language(s): Western Xwla Gbe (xwl)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 112,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012353
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Pray for the Gbe, Xwla of Benin

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: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

95%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Western Xwla Gbe
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Gbe, Western Xwla Speakers

Media Resources in Western Xwla Gbe:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Western Xwla Gbe:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Western Xwla Gbe bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Gbe, Xwla 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 Gbe, Xwla:
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 Gbe, Xwla of Benin

For who is God, but the LORD? And who is a rock, except our God?
readPsalm 18:31

As people look to their own efforts for hope, pray they will have the opportunity to learn and believe in the Lord, who is the only Rock worthy of their faith.

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you. For kingship belongs to the LORD, and he rules over the nations.
readPsalm 22:27-28

Pray that entire families will turn to the Lord in repentance and faith, and that they will worship Him and declare His righteousness to the nations.

Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell in unity!
readPsalm 133:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be unified and love one another as God loves them.

For so the Lord has commanded us, saying, “‘I have made you a light for the Gentiles, that you may bring salvation to the ends of the earth.’”
readActs 13:47

Pray that as people come to faith, they will follow the Lord's leading to go to their neighbors and share the treasure they found in Christ.

Gbe, Western Xwla Across Countries (ROP3 - 109658) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Gbe, XwlaPG012353Gbe, XwlaBenin112,000Engaged yet UnreachedWestern Xwla GbeAnimism

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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