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The Bambara of Cote d’Ivoire

The Bambara of Cote d’Ivoire, numbering approximately 1,500,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Mandé-speaking people of Mali and neighboring West African countries who share a common language, cultural heritage, and historical identity rooted in the middle Niger River basin. They mostly adhere to Folk Islam and Bambara is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Cote d’Ivoire
People Cluster: Malinke-Bambara
Primary Language(s): Bambara (bam)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 1,500,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG013042
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Pray for the Bambara of Cote d’Ivoire

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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

70%
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Bambara
Language Family: Mande

100%
%
Bamanankan Speakers

Media Resources in Bambara:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Bambara:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Alliance Biblique au Mali 1987✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Bambara bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Bambara 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 Bambara:
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 Bambara of Cote d’Ivoire

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.
readJohn 11:25

Pray for the many who have never heard about or understood the importance of what Jesus did for them, asking God to make a way for them to hear that the perfect Son of Man suffered, died, and rose again so that they might be saved.

O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
readPsalm 8:1

Pray that those who have yet to believe will soon recognize the majesty of God's name and raise their voices in praise to the Lord Almighty.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil.
readEphesians 6:10-11

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will grow strong in His power, putting on the full armor of God, which will enable them to stand against the devil’s lies.

For we do not want you to be unaware, brothers, of the affliction we experienced in Asia. For we were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that we despaired of life itself. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead.
read2 Corinthians 1:8-9

Pray that as people hear and believe the gospel, they will be faithful as they walk through trials and will have an opportunity to be a witness to others in this people group of the goodness of God.

Bambara Across Countries (ROP3 - 100925) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

10 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
BambaraPG047650BambaraUnited States5,700Engaged yet UnreachedBambaraSunni Islam
BambaraPG013399BambaraGuinea6,200Unengaged and UnreachedBambaraSunni Islam
BambaraPG012371BambaraBurkina Faso7,900Engaged yet UnreachedBambaraFolk Islam
BambaraPG013227BambaraGambia26,000Unengaged and UnreachedBambaraFolk Islam
BambaraPG013579BambaraMauritania27,000Unengaged and UnreachedBambaraFolk Islam
BambaraPG013594BambaraNiger60,000Engaged yet UnreachedBambaraFolk Islam
BambaraPG014218BambaraSenegal102,000Unengaged and UnreachedBambaraFolk Islam
French-speaking West AfricansPG047836French-speaking West AfricansFrance133,000Engaged yet UnreachedFrenchSunni Islam
BambaraPG013042BambaraCote d’Ivoire1,500,000No Longer UnreachedBambaraFolk Islam
BambaraPG013534BambaraMali7,800,000Engaged yet UnreachedBambaraSunni 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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