The Kita Maninka of Mali

The Kita Maninka of Mali, numbering approximately 778,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a regional subgroup of the Maninka (Malinké) people of western Mali, centered around the town of Kita. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Kita Maninkakan is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Maninka Kita

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Mali
People Cluster: Malinke
Primary Language(s): Kita Maninkakan (mwk)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 778,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG048617
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Kita Maninka of Mali

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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

97%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kita Maninkakan
Language Family: Mande

90%
%
Maninkakan, Kita Speakers

Media Resources in Kita Maninkakan:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Kita Maninkakan:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Kita Maninkakan bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Kita 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 Kita 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 Kita Maninka of Mali

Jesus said to her, "Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life"
readJohn 4:13-14

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will drink of the living water that only Christ can provide and never thirst again.

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
readRomans 1:19-20

Pray that God will use His creation – the “things that have been made” – to spark a fresh and passionate curiosity among them to draw near to the Maker and that, as they seek Him, He will make a way for them to hear the gospel and receive it with joy.

Those who look to him are radiant, and their faces shall never be ashamed.
readPsalm 34:5

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will see themselves as God sees them, with radiant faces and hearts that have been cleansed of all shame.

The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.
readJohn 1:5

Pray that when discouraging days come, those who cross cultures for the sake of the gospel will be comforted as they remember that the light of Christ is stronger than the darkness that surrounds them.

Maninka, Kita Across Countries (ROP3 - 114951) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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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