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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Kouya of Cote d’Ivoire

The Kouya of Cote d’Ivoire, numbering approximately 210,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Côte d'Ivoire. They are an Indigenous people, in the Kru people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary religion is Animism. They primarily speak Kouya.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Cote d’Ivoire
People Cluster: Kru
Primary Language(s): Kouya (kyf)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 210,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Active CP Activity
People Group ID: PG013097
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Pray for the Kouya of Cote d’Ivoire

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

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Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Kouya
Language Family: Kru

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Media Resources in Kouya:

Films:

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Bible Resources in Kouya:

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Or check out the Kouya bible resources at Bible.com

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Next steps for the Kouya

The Kouya are Unengaged and Unreached, which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.

Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Next steps for the Kouya

The Kouya 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.

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

Next steps for the Kouya

The Kouya 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.

Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Kouya of Cote d’Ivoire

But I say to you, Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven. For he makes his sun rise on the evil and on the good, and sends rain on the just and on the unjust.
readMatthew 5:44-45

Pray for those who don't know Jesus to encounter believers who are kind and compassionate and that their imitation of Christ will serve as a testimony that attracts lost people to Jesus.

For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse.
readRomans 1:19-20

Pray that God will use His creation – the “things that have been made” – to spark a fresh and passionate curiosity among them to draw near to the Maker and that, as they seek Him, He will make a way for them to hear the gospel and receive it with joy.

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples."
readJohn 8:31

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will abide in Christ daily, depending on Him for every need.

For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
readRomans 6:23

Pray that God will bring people to faith who are excited about the eternal life they have in Christ and will want to cross cultures to share this hope with others.

Kouya (ROP3 - 105276) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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