Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
Be sure to use the data import function in your favorite app for working with data.
If you'd like to help improve these translations, Contact Us.

PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Bariba of Benin

The Bariba of Benin, numbering approximately 1,250,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Benin. They are an Indigenous people, in the Gur people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Islam - Folk. They primarily speak Baatonum.

Bariba in Togo photo
Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Bariba

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Benin
People Cluster: Gur
Primary Language(s): Baatonum (bba)
Primary Religion(s): Islam - Folk
Population: 1,250,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG012302
View on Joshua Project

Prayer Card
Submit Updates

Pray for the Bariba of Benin

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!
Download Prayer Guide

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Islam - Folk
Religious Affiliation: Islam

%
Islam - Folk Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Baatonum
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

%
Baatonum Speakers

Media Resources in Baatonum:

Films:

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Baatonum:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Baatonum bible resources at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Next steps for the Bariba

The Bariba are Unengaged and Unreached, 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.

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

Next steps for the Bariba

The Bariba 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.

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

Next steps for the Bariba

The Bariba 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.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Bariba of Benin

While he was coming, the demon threw him to the ground and convulsed him. But Jesus rebuked the unclean spirit and healed the boy, and gave him back to his father.
readLuke 9:42

Pray that those who are living outside of the hope of the gospel will know and trust that Jesus offers freedom from the oppression of sin and hope in eternal life.

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed"
readGalatians 3:8

Ask the Lord to fulfill His promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed by advancing the gospel to every people group who has yet to receive it.

For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.
readMatthew 18:20

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be encouraged as they remember that Jesus is with them when they gather in His name.

There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.
readMark 7:15

Pray for Christians to take any opportunity to share the hope of Jesus with lost people here, praying they will be wise like Jesus as they share the truth about what can defile people and what can make them clean.

Bariba (ROP3 - 100685) 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.

Scroll to Top