The Kari of Central African Republic

The Kari of Central African Republic, numbering approximately 179,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a southern Mbum people of the mountains around Bocaranga in the Central African Republic's Ouham-Pende prefecture, whose ancestors fled Fulani raids on the Adamawa Plateau in the early 1800s to settle this borderland with Cameroon. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Kare (Central African Republic) is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Central African Republic
People Cluster: Adamawa-Ubangi
Primary Language(s): Kare (Central African Republic) (kbn)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 179,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG012879
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Kari of Central African Republic

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: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

—
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kare (Central African Republic)
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Kare (Central African Republic) Speakers

Media Resources in Kare (Central African Republic):

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Kare (Central African Republic):

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Kare (Central African Republic) bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Kari 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 Kari:
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 Kari of Central African Republic

For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.
readEphesians 6:12

Pray for those ensnared by the darkness of this world, that they will recognize the spiritual forces at work and turn to the light of Christ.

And the word of God continued to increase, and the number of the disciples multiplied greatly in Jerusalem, and a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith.
readActs 6:7

Pray that the Word of God will be increasingly available to these people in ways they will resonate with so that all may have a chance to respond to the good news of Jesus Christ.

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.
readHebrews 10:26

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will live with reverence for God and not deliberately keep sinning after they receive the knowledge of the truth.

You also must help us by prayer, so that many will give thanks on our behalf for the blessing granted us through the prayers of many.
read2 Corinthians 1:11

Pray that many people will join in praying for the spread of the gospel here, and that God will answer these prayers by drawing more people to Himself.

Kari Across Countries (ROP3 - 104664) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

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.

Scroll to Top