The Wolof of Mauritania

The Wolof of Mauritania, numbering approximately 212,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a West African ethnic group indigenous to northwestern Senegal, the Gambia, and southwestern coastal Mauritania. They mostly adhere to Sufi Islam and Wolof is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Mauritania
People Cluster: Atlantic-Wolof
Primary Language(s): Wolof (wol)
Primary Religion(s): Sufi Islam
Population: 212,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG013591
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Wolof 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sufi Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Sufi Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Wolof
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Wolof Speakers

Media Resources in Wolof:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Bible Resources in Wolof:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2004 La Mission Baptiste du Sénégal✓

1 entry

Or check out the Wolof 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 Wolof:
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 Wolof of Mauritania

The LORD has heard my plea; the LORD accepts my prayer.
readPsalm 6:9

Pray that lost people will hear the gospel and place their faith in Christ, knowing that He hears their plea and accepts their prayer.

And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.
read2 Timothy 2:2

Pray that the lost will come to faith in Christ and be discipled in the truth of the gospel, becoming faithful followers of Jesus who, in turn, make disciples themselves.

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins.
readHebrews 10:26

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will live with reverence for God and not deliberately keep sinning after they receive the knowledge of the truth.

The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance.
read2 Peter 3:9

Pray that those God sends to cross cultures will patiently endure hardships as they share the gospel, knowing that the Lord is not slow to fulfill His promise.

Wolof Across Countries (ROP3 - 110856) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

9 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountry ▼PopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
WolofWolofUnited States27,000Engaged yet UnreachedWolofSunni Islam
WolofWolofSenegal7,055,000Engaged yet UnreachedWolofFolk Islam
WolofWolofMauritania212,000Unengaged and UnreachedWolofSufi Islam
WolofWolofItaly81,000Unengaged and UnreachedWolofSunni Islam
WolofWolofGuinea-Bissau11,500Unengaged and UnreachedWolofSunni Islam
WolofWolofGambia399,000Engaged yet UnreachedGambian WolofFolk Islam
WolofWolofGabon25,000Engaged yet UnreachedWolofFolk Islam
WolofWolofCote d’Ivoire21,000Unengaged and UnreachedWolofFolk Islam
WolofWolofCanada1,300Engaged yet UnreachedWolofSunni 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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