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The Southern Samo of Burkina Faso

The Southern Samo of Burkina Faso, numbering approximately 183,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Samo people of northwestern Burkina Faso centered around Toma and neighboring communities, distinguished by their Southern Samo (Maka) language within the wider Mande-speaking Samo population. They mostly adhere to Folk Islam and Southern Samo is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Samo, Southern

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Burkina Faso
People Cluster: Mande
Primary Language(s): Southern Samo (sbd)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 183,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG012448
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Pray for the Southern Samo 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

—
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Southern Samo
Language Family: Mande

100%
%
Samo, Southern Speakers

Media Resources in Southern Samo:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Southern Samo:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1995 Bible Society of Burkina Faso✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Southern Samo bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Southern Samo 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 Southern Samo:
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 Southern Samo of Burkina Faso

For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
readRomans 5:7-8

Pray for the many who don't yet understand the hope of the gospel, and pray that God will reveal to them that while they were in darkness, Christ died for them.

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me."
readJohn 14:6

Pray that those who are searching for a way to God and desiring truth will encounter the good news of eternal life and accept it.

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love him.
readJames 1:12

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be encouraged when they persevere under trial, knowing that when they have stood the test, they will receive the crown of life.

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.

Samo, Southern Across Countries (ROP3 - 108630) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDName ▲CountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Southern SamoPG012448Southern SamoBurkina Faso183,000No Longer UnreachedSouthern SamoFolk 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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