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The Wolof of Senegal

The Wolof of Senegal, numbering approximately 7,045,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a West African ethnic group indigenous to northwestern Senegal, the Gambia, and southwestern coastal Mauritania. They mostly adhere to Folk 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: Senegal
People Cluster: Atlantic-Wolof
Primary Language(s): Wolof (wol)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 7,045,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG014267
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Pray for the Wolof 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.

Pray Now!
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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Folk Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

99%
%
Folk 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

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Wolof:

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

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Wolof bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Wolof 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 Wolof:
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 Wolof of Senegal

These have indeed an appearance of wisdom in promoting self- made religion and asceticism and severity to the body, but they are of no value in stopping the indulgence of the flesh.
readColossians 2:23

Pray for those without Christ, that they will see the emptiness of human traditions and turn to the truth and grace found in Jesus.

“Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread."
readMatthew 6:10-11

As people go about their daily lives, pray they will have the opportunity to encounter Jesus-followers, receive the gospel, and respond with joy. Pray that, as God provides for their daily needs, He will also bring many into His beautiful kingdom.

And Jesus answered him, "Blessed are you, Simon Bar-Jonah! For flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but my Father who is in heaven."
readMatthew 16:17

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will abide in Him and have assurance that He is the Christ, the Son of the Living God.

Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.
readJohn 12:24

Pray that God will raise up men and women who are willing to die to their own desires, bearing much fruit for the kingdom among individuals and in places where His gospel has not been proclaimed.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

9 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▲Religion
WolofPG013247WolofGambia398,000Engaged yet UnreachedGambian WolofFolk Islam
WolofPG013147WolofCote d’Ivoire21,000Unengaged and UnreachedWolofFolk Islam
WolofPG013222WolofGabon25,000Engaged yet UnreachedWolofFolk Islam
WolofPG013591WolofMauritania212,000Unengaged and UnreachedWolofSufi Islam
WolofPG014267WolofSenegal7,045,000Engaged yet UnreachedWolofFolk Islam
WolofPG042188WolofGuinea-Bissau11,500Unengaged and UnreachedWolofSunni Islam
WolofPG042327WolofItaly81,000Unengaged and UnreachedWolofSunni Islam
WolofPG047451WolofCanada1,300Engaged yet UnreachedWolofSunni Islam
WolofPG047653WolofUnited States27,000Engaged 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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