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Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
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The Lingala of Congo, Democratic Republic of the

The Lingala of Congo, Democratic Republic of the, numbering approximately 4,315,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are a Congolese ethnolinguistic community associated with the Lingala language, which emerged from Congo River trade networks and the historical Bangala riverine peoples. They mostly adhere to Roman Catholicism and Lingala is their primary language.

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

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Congo, Democratic Republic of the
People Cluster: Bantu, Central-Congo
Primary Language(s): Lingala (lin)
Primary Religion(s): Roman Catholicism
Population: 4,315,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 10% or Greater Evangelical
People Group ID: PG050322
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Pray for the Lingala of Congo, Democratic Republic of the

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: Roman Catholicism
Religious Affiliation: Christianity

29%
%
Roman Catholicism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Lingala
Language Family: Atlantic-Congo

100%
%
Lingala Speakers

Media Resources in Lingala:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Lingala:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
1982 Boyokant Ya Sika✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Lingala bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Lingala are No Longer Unreached, which means there are more than 2% evangelical Christian populations and there are churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. There is still more to be done among them.

Next steps for the Lingala:
Empower local believers to begin praying for their own people
Continue gospel seed sowing and church planting
Encourage local leaders to being leading church planting strategy and looking for Unreached and Unengaged groups nearby

Pray specifically for the Lingala of Congo, Democratic Republic of the

But your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear.
readIsaiah 59:2

Pray that those who are separated from God will turn to Him in humility and repentance, seeking His forgiveness and the restoration of a right relationship with their Heavenly Father.

You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.
readPsalm 16:11

Pray that God will make a way for His path of life to be revealed to many so that they may come into His presence and experience abundant joy and eternal pleasures at His right hand.

And God has appointed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, helping, administrating, and various kinds of tongues.
read2 Corinthians 12:28

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will grow in the spiritual gifts God has given them and use these gifts to glorify Him and build up the Church.

And he went away and began to proclaim in the Decapolis how much Jesus had done for him, and everyone marveled.
readMark 5:20

Pray that God will bring people who appear beyond hope to faith in Jesus and that they will then go and tell others of the marvelous things He has done.

Lingala Across Countries (ROP3 - 105785) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

9 people groups

PhotoPeople Group ID ▲NameCountryPopulationStrategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
CongolesePG000063CongoleseBelgium15,500No Longer UnreachedLingalaRoman Catholicism
LingalaPG012081LingalaSouth Sudan49,500Unengaged and UnreachedLingalaSunni Islam
LingalaPG012888LingalaCentral African Republic19,000Engaged yet UnreachedLingalaProtestantism
LingalaPG012981LingalaCongo189,000Engaged yet UnreachedLingalaProtestantism
CongolesePG015104CongoleseUganda28,000No Longer UnreachedLingalaNeo-Pentecostalism
LingalaPG015177LingalaAngola200,000Engaged yet UnreachedLingalaEthnoreligion
CongolesePG047246CongoleseUnited States38,000No Longer UnreachedLingalaNeo-Pentecostalism
LingalaPG047445LingalaCanada3,500No Longer UnreachedLingalaProtestantism
LingalaPG050322LingalaCongo, Democratic Republic of the4,315,000No Longer UnreachedLingalaRoman Catholicism

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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