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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Lingala of Central African Republic

The Lingala of Central African Republic, numbering approximately 19,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a Lingala-speaking community in the Central African Republic, largely linked to Congolese migration, that preserves the language and cultural traditions of the Congo River region They are an Diaspora people, with Lingala as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Bantu, Central-Congo people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. They mostly adhere to Protestantism and Lingala is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Central African Republic
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-Congo
Primary Language(s): Lingala (lin)
Primary Religion(s): Protestantism
Population: 19,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012888
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Pray for the Lingala 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: Protestantism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Protestantism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Lingala
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Lingala Speakers

Media Resources in Lingala:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Lingala:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1982 Boyokant Ya Sika✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Lingala bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Lingala 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 Lingala:
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 Lingala of Central African Republic

For all the gods of the peoples are worthless idols, but the LORD made the heavens.
readPsalm 96:5

Pray that those who are seeking after worthless idols will not be satisfied until they seek the truth and find it in Christ.

And many nations shall join themselves to the LORD in that day, and shall be my people. And I will dwell in your midst, and you shall know that the LORD of hosts has sent me to you.
readZechariah 2:11

Pray that many will take refuge in the Lord and be His people who share the good news of salvation in Jesus with others.

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
readPsalm 119:105

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will meditate daily on the Word of God so that, through it, they might have wisdom for the big and small decisions they face every day.

And how are they to preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the good news!”
readRomans 10:15

Pray that God will call many believers who will obediently go and share the gospel with those who desperately need it.

Lingala Across Countries (ROP3 - 105785) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

9 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
LingalaPG050322LingalaCongo, Democratic Republic of the4,300,000No Longer UnreachedLingalaRoman Catholicism
LingalaPG015177LingalaAngola200,000Engaged yet UnreachedLingalaEthnoreligion
LingalaPG012981LingalaCongo189,000Engaged yet UnreachedLingalaProtestantism
LingalaPG012081LingalaSouth Sudan49,000Unengaged and UnreachedLingalaSunni Islam
CongolesePG047246CongoleseUnited States38,000No Longer UnreachedLingalaNeo-Pentecostalism
CongolesePG015104CongoleseUganda27,500No Longer UnreachedLingalaNeo-Pentecostalism
LingalaPG012888LingalaCentral African Republic19,000Engaged yet UnreachedLingalaProtestantism
CongolesePG000063CongoleseBelgium15,500No Longer UnreachedLingalaRoman Catholicism
LingalaPG047445LingalaCanada3,500No Longer UnreachedLingalaProtestantism

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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