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
View on Joshua Project

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.

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

Bible Resources in Wolof:

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

1 entry

Or check out the Wolof bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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

For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.
readRomans 3:23

Pray that those who live in fear, guilt and discontentment because of sin will see their need for change, hear, and receive the good news of freedom from sin through Christ.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
read1 John 1:5

As mobile phones, radio, and satellite television, and other technologies become more available worldwide, pray for people who are developing digital gospel resources so that others can easily access the gospel.

And they all ate and were satisfied. And what was left over was picked up, twelve baskets of broken pieces.
readLuke 9:17

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will meditate on the stories of Jesus' miracles, be in awe of Him, and trust Him for everything they need.

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
read1 John 1:5

Pray that God will raise up believers who can share the gospel with people who don't know the good news of Jesus, that God is light and in him, there is no darkness at all.

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

Strategic Progress Index
All

9 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion ▼
WolofWolofGuinea-Bissau11,500Unengaged and UnreachedWolofSunni Islam
WolofWolofItaly81,000Unengaged and UnreachedWolofSunni Islam
WolofWolofCanada1,300Engaged yet UnreachedWolofSunni Islam
WolofWolofUnited States27,000Engaged yet UnreachedWolofSunni Islam
WolofWolofMauritania212,000Unengaged and UnreachedWolofSufi Islam
WolofWolofCote d’Ivoire21,000Unengaged and UnreachedWolofFolk Islam
WolofWolofGabon25,000Engaged yet UnreachedWolofFolk Islam
WolofWolofGambia398,000Engaged yet UnreachedGambian WolofFolk Islam
WolofWolofSenegal7,045,000Engaged yet UnreachedWolofFolk 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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