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The Gaanda of Nigeria

The Gaanda of Nigeria, numbering approximately 97,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Chadic-speaking people of Nigeria's upper Gongola River valley, comprising four subgroups (Ga'anda proper, Gabun, Boga, and Dingai) and known for a multi-stage Hleeta body-scarification tradition marking a woman's advancing eligibility for marriage. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Ga'anda is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Nigeria
People Cluster: Chadic
Primary Language(s): Ga'anda (gqa)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 97,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG013786
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Pray for the Gaanda of Nigeria

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!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

83%
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Ga'anda
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Ga’anda Speakers

Media Resources in Ga'anda:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Ga'anda:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Ga'anda bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Gaanda 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 Gaanda:
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 Gaanda of Nigeria

Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming.
readColossians 3:5-6

Pray for God to have mercy and give those who don't yet know Him the gift of Jesus and His salvation for all who call upon His name.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork. Day to day pours out speech, and night to night reveals knowledge.
readPsalm 19:1-2

Pray that the lost will see the glory of God revealed in the heavens, that they will hear the good news, and that their hearts will be softened to respond to God’s call, turning to Him in repentance and faith in Jesus Christ for salvation.

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
readRomans 8:38-39

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have confidence in their salvation, knowing that nothing can separate them from the One who conquered death and loves them as His children.

Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.
readActs 17:29

Pray that God will send out laborers to tell people of the one true God and, as the good news is shared, bring about repentance and belief as they turn from idols and follow Jesus.

Ga'anda Across Countries (ROP3 - 103099) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▲Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
GaandaPG013786GaandaNigeria97,000Engaged yet UnreachedGa'andaEthnoreligion

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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