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The Gbe, Xwla of Benin

The Gbe, Xwla of Benin, numbering approximately 113,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Gbe-speaking coastal people of the Benin-Togo border strip near Grand-Popo and Aneho, tracing ancestry to Tado alongside the Fon and Ewe, whose founding of coastal towns shaped the wider Phla-Phera Gbe cluster. They mostly adhere to Animism and Western Xwla Gbe is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Benin
People Cluster: Guinean
Primary Language(s): Western Xwla Gbe (xwl)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 113,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012353
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Pray for the Gbe, Xwla 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!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

95%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Western Xwla Gbe
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Gbe, Western Xwla Speakers

Media Resources in Western Xwla Gbe:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

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Bible Resources in Western Xwla Gbe:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Western Xwla Gbe bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Gbe, Xwla 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 Gbe, Xwla:
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 Gbe, Xwla of Benin

"And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
readJohn 8:32

Pray for those who live enslaved to sin to hear and receive the truth of the gospel and be set free.

And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.
read1 John 4:21

Pray that the good news of God's love will reach everyone in this people group, and that His love will compel them to love others as Christ has loved us.

All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.
read2 Corinthians 5:18

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will serve as God's ambassadors, sharing the message of reconciliation with others.

"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
readJohn 7:38

Ask God to raise up believers and sustain them as they cross cultures to share hope with those who need it. Pray that many might come to know Christ and that streams of living water will flow from their hearts so they will never thirst again.

Gbe, Western Xwla Across Countries (ROP3 - 109658) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index

All

1 people group

Photo People Group ID Name Country Population ▲ Strategic Progress Index Language Religion
Gbe, Xwla PG012353 Gbe, Xwla Benin 113,000 Engaged yet Unreached Western Xwla Gbe Animism

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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