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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Maninka of Liberia

The Maninka of Liberia, numbering approximately 79,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are described as a Maninka community of the broader Manding peoples descended from the Mali Empire that preserves its Maninkakan language, trading traditions, and Mande cultural heritage in Liberia They are an Diaspora people, with Maninka as their ethnic/kinship group and are in the Malinke people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. They mostly adhere to Folk Islam and Eastern Maninkakan is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Liberia
People Cluster: Malinke
Primary Language(s): Eastern Maninkakan (emk)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 79,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG013516
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Pray for the Maninka of Liberia

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

52%
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Eastern Maninkakan
Language Family: Mande

100%
%
Maninkakan, Eastern Speakers

Media Resources in Eastern Maninkakan:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Eastern Maninkakan:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Eastern Maninkakan bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Maninka 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 Maninka:
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 Maninka of Liberia

These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self- made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
readColossians 2:23

Pray for those without Christ, that they will see the emptiness of human traditions and turn to the truth and grace found in Jesus.

The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything.
readActs 17:24-25

Pray that the good news will reach everyone in this people group and that many will come to know and serve the one true God who made the world and everything in it and lives today.

For you were straying like sheep, but have now returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
read1 Peter 2:25

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will proclaim the good news and the lost will recognize their need for the Shepherd and turn to Jesus Christ in faith.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
readRomans 6:23

Pray that God will bring people to faith who are excited about the eternal life they have in Christ and will want to cross cultures to share this hope with others.

Maninka, Eastern Across Countries (ROP3 - 106265) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
ManinkaPG013424ManinkaGuinea3,880,000Engaged yet UnreachedEastern ManinkakanFolk Islam
Eastern ManinkaPG048618Eastern ManinkaMali698,000Engaged yet UnreachedEastern ManinkakanSunni Islam
ManinkaPG014290ManinkaSierra Leone190,000Engaged yet UnreachedEastern ManinkakanFolk Islam
ManinkaPG013516ManinkaLiberia79,000Engaged yet UnreachedEastern ManinkakanFolk 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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