The Manya of Guinea

The Manya of Guinea, numbering approximately 107,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Maninka people of eastern Guinea's Kankan region, heartland of the 13th-century Mali Empire founded by Sundiata Keita, among the largest Mande-speaking peoples whose language and griot oral traditions spread across West Africa from that imperial core. They mostly adhere to Folk Islam and Manya is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash-Lite: Manya

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Guinea
People Cluster: Malinke
Primary Language(s): Manya (mzj)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 107,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG023165
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Manya of Guinea

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: Manya
Language Family: Mande

100%
%
Manya Speakers

Media Resources in Manya:

Films:

No film resources are listed for this language.

Bible Resources in Manya:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
2018 Edition✓✓✓

1 entry

Or check out the Manya bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Manya 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 Manya:
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 Manya of Guinea

Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they shall be satisfied.
readMatthew 5:6

Pray for those who are lost to desire righteousness and to be filled with the peace and purpose that only comes from following Jesus.

Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous works among all the peoples!
readPsalm 96:3

Pray for people to hear and believe the good news of Jesus and joyfully share it with their family and friends.

Truly, I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.
readLuke 18:17

Pray that as people trust in Christ, they will have simple, childlike confidence that He will provide for their needs.

For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too.
read2 Corinthians 1:5

When any who might believe suffer for the sake of the gospel, ask God to deepen their understanding of His grace so that they may share it freely with those who have not received it.

Manya Across Countries (ROP3 - 111214) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

2 people groups

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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