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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Mandinka of Senegal

The Mandinka of Senegal, numbering approximately 1,160,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a West African ethnic group primarily found in southern Mali, the Gambia, eastern Guinea, Senegal, and Ghana. They are an Indigenous people in the Malinke people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Mandinka and their primary religion is Folk Islam.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Senegal
People Cluster: Malinke
Primary Language(s): Mandinka (mnk)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 1,160,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG014249
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Pray for the Mandinka of Senegal

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: Folk Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

98%
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Mandinka
Language Family: Mande

100%
%
Mandinka Speakers

Media Resources in Mandinka:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Mandinka:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Mandinka bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

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 Active 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 Mandinka:
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 Mandinka 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 Mandinka:
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 Mandinka 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 Mandinka:
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 Mandinka of Senegal

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 the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord, and as many as were appointed to eternal life believed. And the word of the Lord was spreading throughout the whole region.
readActs 13:48-49

Pray that the gospel will spread throughout this whole region and that many will believe and embrace the gift of eternal life through faith in Jesus Christ.

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.
readDeuteronomy 7:9

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will know God's faithful love and keep His commandments, experiencing His steadfast care.

For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.
read2 Corinthians 5:21

Pray that Christians will cross cultures and share the hope of Christ, and that many will trust the One who took their sins and offers them His righteousness.

Mandinka Across Countries (ROP3 - 106233) 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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