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The Northern Nuna of Burkina Faso

The Northern Nuna of Burkina Faso, numbering approximately 118,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Gurunsi people of southern Burkina Faso who migrated north from Ghana with the Winiama at the end of the 1400s ahead of Mossi cavalry, whose advance was blocked by tsetse-infested bush that killed the horses, known for vividly colored ceremonial masks. They mostly adhere to Animism and Northern Nuni is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Nuna, Northern

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Burkina Faso
People Cluster: Gur
Primary Language(s): Northern Nuni (nuv)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 118,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG012433
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Pray for the Northern Nuna 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: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

62%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Northern Nuni
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Nuni, Northern Speakers

Media Resources in Northern Nuni:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Northern Nuni:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Northern Nuni bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Northern Nuna 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 Northern Nuna:
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 Northern Nuna of Burkina Faso

For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another.
readTitus 3:3

Pray for those who seek worldly pleasures instead of God to flee from sin and choose God’s goodness and lovingkindness by placing their faith in Jesus.

Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise).
readEphesians 6:1-2

Pray that God will bring young men and women to faith in Jesus and that the fruit of their faith will be a powerful testimony as they honor their parents.

Finally, all of you, have unity of mind, sympathy, brotherly love, a tender heart, and a humble mind.
read1 Peter 3:8

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will live in harmony with one another, showing sympathy, love, compassion, and humility.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might.
readEphesians 6:10

Ask God to strengthen believers with His mighty power so that as they cross cultures to share the gospel, they will stand firm against the schemes of the enemy.

Nuna, Northern Across Countries (ROP3 - 107507) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Northern NunaPG012433Northern NunaBurkina Faso118,000No Longer UnreachedNorthern NuniAnimism

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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