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The Mandara of Nigeria

The Mandara of Nigeria, numbering approximately 23,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are descendants of the Wandala sultanate founded in the Mandara Mountains around 1500, renowned historically for horse breeding and ironworking before Islamization spread through the kingdom in the eighteenth century. They mostly adhere to Folk Islam and Wandala is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Nigeria
People Cluster: Chadic
Primary Language(s): Wandala (mfi)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 23,500
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG013983
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Pray for the Mandara 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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

98%
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Wandala
Language Family: Afro-Asiatic

100%
%
Wandala Speakers

Media Resources in Wandala:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Wandala:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1988 Wycliffe✓✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Wandala bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Mandara 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 Mandara:
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 Mandara of Nigeria

But he said, "What is impossible with man is possible with God."
readLuke 18:27

Praise God that He is the God of impossible things and that He is able to save even those who seem beyond hope.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant in search of fine pearls, who, on finding one pearl of great value, went and sold all that he had and bought it.
readMatthew 13: 45-46

Pray that they will recognize the treasure of knowing Christ Jesus and be willing to give up everything else to gain Him.

Glory in his holy name; let the hearts of those who seek the LORD rejoice!
readPsalm 105:3

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will glory in His holy name and that their hearts will rejoice.

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.

Mandara Across Countries (ROP3 - 106228) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▲NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
MandaraPG012673MandaraCameroon80,000Engaged yet UnreachedWandalaFolk Islam
MandaraPG013983MandaraNigeria23,500Engaged yet UnreachedWandalaFolk 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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