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The Marka of Burkina Faso

The Marka of Burkina Faso, numbering approximately 512,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Manding people of western and northwestern Burkina Faso, also known as Dafing, whose communities extend into neighboring Mali; their identity reflects longstanding ties to the wider Marka-Maraka and Soninke cultural world. They mostly adhere to Animism and Marka is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Burkina Faso
People Cluster: Malinke
Primary Language(s): Marka (rkm)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 512,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012426
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Pray for the Marka of Burkina Faso

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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

50%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Marka
Language Family: Mande

100%
%
Marka Speakers

Media Resources in Marka:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Marka:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Marka bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Marka 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 Marka:
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 Marka of Burkina Faso

That they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us.
readActs 17:27

Pray that those who don't yet know Christ will search diligently for God and find Him, though He is not far from each one of us.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
readPsalm 19:1-2

Pray that the lost will see the glory of God revealed in the heavens, that they will hear the good news, and that their hearts will be softened to respond to God’s call, turning to Him in repentance and faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.

Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain. Unless the LORD watches over the city, the watchman stays awake in vain.
readPsalm 127:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will build their homes in the Lord and raise their children to know and honor Him.

Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
readIsaiah 58:7

As believers cross cultures to share the good news of Christ, pray that God will sustain them and grow their faith as He gives them the compassion necessary to minister well to those in need.

Marka Across Countries (ROP3 - 106346) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
MarkaPG012426MarkaBurkina Faso512,000Engaged yet UnreachedMarkaAnimism
DafinPG013542DafinMali66,500Engaged yet UnreachedMarkaSunni 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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