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The Maninka of United States

The Maninka of United States, numbering approximately 5,700 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Mande diaspora people of West African Maninka origin, descended from communities linked to the historic Mali Empire who maintain ties to the broader Manding cultural and linguistic tradition. They mostly adhere to Sunni Islam and Western Maninkakan is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 3.1 Flash: Maninka

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: United States
People Cluster: Malinke
Primary Language(s): Western Maninkakan (mlq)
Primary Religion(s): Sunni Islam
Population: 5,700
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG047665
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Pray for the Maninka of United States

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.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Sunni Islam
Religious Affiliation: Islam

80%
%
Sunni Islam Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Western Maninkakan
Language Family: Mande

100%
%
Maninkakan, Western Speakers

Media Resources in Western Maninkakan:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Western Maninkakan:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Western Maninkakan bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Maninka 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 Maninka:
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 Maninka of United States

During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob.
readExodus 2:23-24

As the lost among them labor, groan, and cry out under false religions and sin, pray God will have mercy on them and hear their cries, that He will be their Rescuer from the kingdom of darkness and bring them into the kingdom of light.

And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, "In you shall all the nations be blessed"
readGalatians 3:8

Ask the Lord to fulfill His promise to Abraham that all nations would be blessed by advancing the gospel to every people group who has yet to receive it.

My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God?
readPsalm 42:2

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will thirst for God and be satisfied when they abide in Him.

"Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water."
readJohn 7:38

Ask God to raise up believers and sustain them as they cross cultures to share hope with those who need it. Pray that many might come to know Christ and that streams of living water will flow from their hearts so they will never thirst again.

Maninka, Western Across Countries (ROP3 - 106266) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

4 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguage ▼Religion
ManinkaPG012420ManinkaBurkina Faso194,000Engaged yet UnreachedWestern ManinkakanFolk Islam
ManinkaPG013557ManinkaMali776,000Engaged yet UnreachedWestern ManinkakanSunni Islam
ManinkaPG014251ManinkaSenegal681,000Engaged yet UnreachedWestern ManinkakanFolk Islam
ManinkaPG047665ManinkaUnited States5,700Engaged yet UnreachedWestern ManinkakanSunni 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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