Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
Hindi - हिन्दी | Indonesian - Bahasa Indonesia
Korean - 한국어 | Nepali - नेपाली
Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
Be sure to use the data import function in your favorite app for working with data.
If you'd like to help improve these translations, Contact Us.

The Wassalu of Mali

The Wassalu of Mali, numbering approximately 270,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Bambara-speaking community of the Wassoulou cultural region where Mali, Ivory Coast, and Guinea meet, formed through centuries of Fulani migrants from the Fouta Djallon blending into the indigenous Mande population. They mostly adhere to Folk Islam and Bambara is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Mali
People Cluster: Malinke-Bambara
Primary Language(s): Bambara (bam)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 270,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG013575
View on Joshua Project

Print Profile
Submit Updates

Pray for the Wassalu of Mali

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!
Download Prayer Guide

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

89%
%
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: Unreached yet Engaged

The Wassalu 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 Wassalu:
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 Wassalu of Mali

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.

More than that, we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.
readRomans 5:11

Pray for the gospel to advance and for more people to be brought into God's family through the reconciliation Jesus offers them.

This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church. However, let each one of you love his wife as himself, and let the wife see that she respects her husband.
readEphesians 5:32-33

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will grasp the profound mystery of Christ's love for the Church, reflecting this love in their marriages.

The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!”
readJohn 1:35-36

Pray for those God sends to cross cultures to share the gospel, that they might faithfully share the good news of the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Wasulu Across Countries (ROP3 - 110714) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

3 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
WassaluPG013575WassaluMali270,000Engaged yet UnreachedBambaraFolk Islam
WassaluPG013436WassaluGuinea94,000Engaged yet UnreachedEastern ManinkakanFolk Islam
WassuluPG023155WassuluCote d’Ivoire19,500Engaged yet UnreachedWojenakaFolk 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