The Mandinka of Senegal

The Mandinka of Senegal, numbering approximately 1,170,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a West African ethnic group primarily found in southern Mali, the Gambia, eastern Guinea, Senegal, and Ghana. They mostly adhere to Folk Islam and Mandinka is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Senegal
People Cluster: Malinke
Primary Language(s): Mandinka (mnk)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 1,170,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG014249
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Mandinka of Senegal

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

98%
%
Folk Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Mandinka
Language Family: Mande

100%
%
Mandinka Speakers

Media Resources in Mandinka:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Mandinka:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2013 Bible Society in the Gambia✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Mandinka bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Mandinka 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 Mandinka:
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 Mandinka of Senegal

Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other.
readIsaiah 45:22

Pray for many lost people to turn to the Lord, finding forgiveness and salvation in Him, for He is the only way to true life and restoration.

But those that were sown on the good soil are the ones who hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirtyfold and sixtyfold and a hundredfold.
readMark 4:20

Pray that those who have never encountered the gospel will have the opportunity to receive it, and that it will fall on good soil and bear much fruit.

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.

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.

Mandinka Across Countries (ROP3 - 106233) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

7 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress Index ▼LanguageReligion
MandinkaMandinkaUnited States2,800Engaged yet UnreachedMandinkaSunni Islam
MandinkaMandinkaSenegal1,170,000Engaged yet UnreachedMandinkaFolk Islam
MandinkaMandinkaGuinea-Bissau264,000Engaged yet UnreachedMandinkaFolk Islam
MandinkaMandinkaGhana177,000Engaged yet UnreachedMandinkaFolk Islam
MandinkaMandinkaGambia1,180,000Engaged yet UnreachedMandinkaFolk Islam
MandinkaMandinkaFrance100Unengaged and UnreachedMandinkaSunni Islam
MandinkaMandinkaBenin14,500Unengaged and UnreachedMandinkaFolk 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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