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The Jola of Mauritania

The Jola of Mauritania, numbering approximately 5,400 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are an ethnic group indigenous to the Lower Casamance region of Senegal and neighboring parts of the Gambia. They mostly adhere to Folk Islam and Jola-Fonyi is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Mauritania
People Cluster: Atlantic-Jola
Primary Language(s): Jola-Fonyi (dyo)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 5,400
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG013584
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Pray for the Jola of Mauritania

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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

73%
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Jola-Fonyi
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Jola-Fonyi Speakers

Media Resources in Jola-Fonyi:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Jola-Fonyi:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2011 Bible Society in the Gambia✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Jola-Fonyi bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

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): Pioneer Unreached People Group, (LPI: 1), 0.1% or Greater but Less than 0.5% 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 Jola:
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 Jola of Mauritania

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions.
readPsalm 51:1

Give thanks to God that He is able to forgive all the sins people might commit, and pray that many who don't yet know this will hear the good news and turn to Him for mercy.

...And that repentance for the forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem.
readLuke 24:47

Pray that the message of repentance and forgiveness through Jesus will reach everyone.

All the ends of the earth shall remember and turn to the LORD, and all the families of the nations shall worship before you.
readPsalm 22:27

Pray that all families of the nations will worship the Lord in spirit and in truth.

Jesus said to them again, "Peace be with you. As the Father sends me, even so I am sending you."
readJohn 20:21

Ask God to raise up and send out believers cross-culturally who will go out in His authority and be sustained by His peace as they share the gospel with the lost.

Jola-Fonyi Across Countries (ROP3 - 102625) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

5 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
Jola-FognyPG042490Jola-FognyFrance100Unengaged and UnreachedJola-FonyiSunni Islam
JolaPG013584JolaMauritania5,400Unengaged and UnreachedJola-FonyiFolk Islam
JolaPG042198JolaGuinea-Bissau11,000Engaged yet UnreachedJola-FonyiEthnoreligion
Jola-FonyiPG042193Jola-FonyiGambia149,000Engaged yet UnreachedJola-FonyiFolk Islam
JolaPG014234JolaSenegal390,000Engaged yet UnreachedJola-FonyiFolk 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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