The Nupe of Nigeria

The Nupe of Nigeria, numbering approximately 2,070,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are the largest ethnic group of Nigeria's North Central region, whose Nupe Kingdom emerged under the Igala conqueror Tsoede, was conquered by Fulani forces around 1806 and reorganized as an emirate, with Emir Usman Zaki founding Bida as its capital in 1835. They mostly adhere to Folk Islam and Nupe-Nupe-Tako is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Nigeria
People Cluster: Nupe
Primary Language(s): Nupe-Nupe-Tako (nup)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 2,070,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG014044
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Nupe 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.

Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

94%
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Nupe-Nupe-Tako
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Nupe-Nupe-Tako Speakers

Media Resources in Nupe-Nupe-Tako:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Nupe-Nupe-Tako:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1989 Bible Society of Nigeria✓

1 entry

Or check out the Nupe-Nupe-Tako bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Nupe are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Nupe:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Nupe of Nigeria

The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever.
readIsaiah 40:8

Pray that those who don't know Jesus will be freed from the emptiness of fading hopes and find lasting life and truth in the unchanging Word of God.

Greet also the church in their house. Greet my beloved Epaenetus, who was the first convert to Christ in Asia."
readRomans 16:5

Pray for houses to be meeting places for Christians and that God will advance the gospel and grow His Church through natural familial and community relationships.

Sing for joy, O heavens, and exult, O earth; break forth, O mountains, into singing! For the LORD has comforted his people and will have compassion on his afflicted.
readIsaiah 49:13

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ and suffer for their faith, they will sing for joy and be glad in their hearts because the Lord has compassion on them.

And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.
read2 Corinthians 12:28

Ask God to raise up believers who will faithfully proclaim the good news and equip others to do the same.

Nupe Across Countries (ROP3 - 107516) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

1 people group

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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