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The Bariba of Burkina Faso

The Bariba of Burkina Faso, numbering approximately 31,500 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a West African people of northeastern Benin and northwestern Nigeria who share the Bariba language and a common heritage linked to the historic Borgu kingdoms, with cultural traditions rooted in agriculture, trade, and horsemanship. They mostly adhere to Folk Islam and Baatonum is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Burkina Faso
People Cluster: Gur
Primary Language(s): Baatonum (bba)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 31,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG012372
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Pray for the Bariba of Burkina Faso

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

58%
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Baatonum
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Baatonum Speakers

Media Resources in Baatonum:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Baatonum:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1996 Bible Society of Benin✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Baatonum bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

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.

Next steps for the Bariba:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Bariba of Burkina Faso

And the people of Israel went into the midst of the sea on dry ground, the waters being a wall to them on their right hand and on their left.
readExodus 14:22

Pray that the God who split the sea so that the Israelites might pass through would do another great work among these people, softening the hearts of those who remain lost to the good news and saving them from their sins.

But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.
readMark 4:20

Pray that those who have never encountered the gospel will have the opportunity to receive it, and that it will fall on good soil and bear much fruit.

For though I am free from all, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win more of them.
read1 Corinthians 9:19

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have hearts that want to serve the lost around them so that many might come to faith in Jesus.

Say among the nations, “The LORD reigns! Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.”
readPsalm 96:10

Pray for God to put in the hearts of believers to go to the lost and testify about the Lord who reigns.

Bariba Across Countries (ROP3 - 100685) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▼CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
BaribaPG012302BaribaBenin1,270,000No Longer UnreachedBaatonumFolk Islam
BaribaPG012372BaribaBurkina Faso31,500No Longer UnreachedBaatonumFolk Islam
BaribaPG013671BaribaNigeria225,000Engaged yet UnreachedBaatonumFolk Islam
BaribaPG014319BaribaTogo28,500No Longer UnreachedBaatonumFolk 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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