The Jahanke of Guinea-Bissau

The Jahanke of Guinea-Bissau, numbering approximately 12,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Manding-speaking ethnic group indigenous to the Senegambia region. They mostly adhere to Folk Islam and Jahanka is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Guinea-Bissau
People Cluster: Malinke
Primary Language(s): Jahanka (jad)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 12,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG013458
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Jahanke of Guinea-Bissau

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: Folk Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Jahanka
Language Family: Mande

100%
%
Jahanka Speakers

Media Resources in Jahanka:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Jahanka:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Jahanka bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), 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.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Jahanke:
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

Pray specifically for the Jahanke of Guinea-Bissau

All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one.
readRomans 3:12

Pray that those who are enslaved to sin will admit their need for a Savior, acknowledging that no one is righteous.

And when they saw it, they made known the saying that had been told them concerning this child.
readLuke 2:17

Pray that the lost will receive the good news of salvation in God's Son, have hearts eager to share it with others, and that all who hear will respond with wonder and faith!

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
readPsalm 119:105

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will meditate daily on the Word of God so that, through it, they might have wisdom for the big and small decisions they face every day.

Oh, magnify the LORD with me, and let us exalt his name together!
readPsalm 34:3

Pray that God will raise up believers who will go to those in this people group who do not yet follow Jesus, and that they will invite many to magnify the Lord with them so that His fame will spread to the ends of the earth.

Jahanka Across Countries (ROP3 - 104152) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

5 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▼
JahankeJahankeGuinea52,000Engaged yet UnreachedJahankaSunni Islam
JahankaJahankaMali2,400Engaged yet UnreachedJahankaSunni Islam
JahankaJahankaGambia5,600Unengaged and UnreachedJahankaFolk Islam
JahankeJahankeGuinea-Bissau12,000Unengaged and UnreachedJahankaFolk Islam
JahankaJahankaSenegal56,500Engaged yet UnreachedJahankaFolk 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.

Scroll to Top