The Yoruba of Cote d’Ivoire

The Yoruba of Cote d’Ivoire, numbering approximately 150,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a West African ethnic group indigenous to Yorubaland, an are that spans the modern-day countries of Nigeria, Benin, and Togo. They mostly adhere to Neo-Pentecostalism and Yoruba is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Cote d’Ivoire
People Cluster: Yoruba
Primary Language(s): Yoruba (yor)
Primary Religion(s): Neo-Pentecostalism
Population: 150,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 5% or Greater but Less than 10% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG013151
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Yoruba 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Neo-Pentecostalism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

—
%
Neo-Pentecostalism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Yoruba
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Yoruba Speakers

Media Resources in Yoruba:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Yoruba:

3 entries

Or check out the Yoruba bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Yoruba 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 Yoruba:
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 Yoruba of Cote d’Ivoire

Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.
readIsaiah 45:22

Pray for many lost people to turn to the Lord, finding forgiveness and salvation in Him, for He is the only way to true life and restoration.

If I ascend to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
readPsalm 139:8

Pray that the lost will recognize God's presence with them wherever they go, put their faith in Christ, and seek to live in a way that honors and glorifies Him.

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? The Lord is the stronghold of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?
readPsalm 27:1

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, God will strengthen them when they face persecution of any kind for Jesus' name’s sake.

And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
readMark 5:20

Pray that God will bring people who appear beyond hope to faith in Jesus and that they will then go and tell others of the marvelous things He has done.

Yoruba Across Countries (ROP3 - 111095) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

11 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▼NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
YorubaYorubaCanada10,500No Longer UnreachedYorubaNeo-Pentecostalism
YorubaYorubaUnited States152,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaAfrican Traditional Religion
YorubaYorubaTogo144,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaNeo-Pentecostalism
YorubaYorubaSierra Leone7,400No Longer UnreachedYorubaProtestantism
YorubaYorubaNigeria48,930,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaNeo-Pentecostalism
YorubaYorubaNiger90,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaFolk Islam
YorubaYorubaGhana532,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaFolk Islam
YorubaYorubaEquatorial Guinea130,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaProtestantism
YorubaYorubaCote d’Ivoire150,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaNeo-Pentecostalism
YorubaYorubaBurkina Faso85,000No Longer UnreachedYorubaFolk Islam
YorubaYorubaBenin266,000Engaged yet UnreachedYorubaAfrican Traditional Religion

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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