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
View on Joshua Project

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.

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.

Bible Resources in Northern Nuni:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Northern Nuni bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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

I am the LORD; that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols.
readIsaiah 42:8

Pray that lost people will turn from worthless idols to worship the one true God, recognizing that He alone is worthy of all glory and praise.

All the earth worships you and sings praises to you; they sing praises to your name.
readPsalm 66:4

Pray that the good news of Jesus will advance here and that many will bow down and sing praises to His name.

And they devoted themselves to the apostles' teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers.
readActs 2:42

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will devote themselves to God's Word, to fellowship with each other, and to prayer.

And the King will answer them, "Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me."
readMatthew 25:40

Ask God to raise up and send believers who will serve "the least of these" with compassion and energy because they know that in serving those in need, they are serving Christ.

Nuna, Northern Across Countries (ROP3 - 107507) 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.

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