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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Northwest Samo of Burkina Faso

The Northwest Samo of Burkina Faso, numbering approximately 313,000 people, are No Longer Unreached. They are an ethnolinguistic community of Burkina Faso. They are an Indigenous people in the Mande people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples affinity bloc. Their primary language is Samo, Matya and their primary religion is Animism.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Samo, Northwest

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Burkina Faso
People Cluster: Mande
Primary Language(s): Samo, Matya (stj)
Primary Religion(s): Animism
Population: 313,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): No Longer Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical
People Group ID: PG012431
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Pray for the Northwest Samo of Burkina Faso

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: Animism
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

54%
%
Animism Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Samo, Matya
Language Family: Mande

35%
%
Samo, Matya Speakers

Media Resources in Samo, Matya:

Films:

No entries found for: Samo, Matya(stj). Help build some!

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Bible Resources in Samo, Matya:

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Samo, Matya bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

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Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 2), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Marginally Reached People Group, (LPI: 4), 3% to 6% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): 2% or Greater but Less than 5% Evangelical (GSEC: 4), this people group is greater than or equal to 2% evangelical

Next steps for the Northwest Samo:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Northwest Samo 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 Northwest Samo:
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

SPI: No longer Unreached

The Northwest Samo 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 Northwest Samo:
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 Northwest Samo of Burkina Faso

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.
readPsalm 73:26

Pray that those who are lost and struggling to find hope will find their strength and hope in God, recognizing Him as their portion and deliverer forever.

The people dwelling in darkness have seen a great light, and for those dwelling in the region and shadow of death, on them a light has dawned.
readMatthew 4:16

Pray that those who dwell in darkness and live in the land of the shadow of death may be drawn out of darkness into His marvelous light.

Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations.
readDeuteronomy 7:9

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will know God's faithful love and keep His commandments, experiencing His steadfast care.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek.
readRomans 1:16

Pray that God will raise up sons and daughters who, like Paul, will be bold to share the gospel across cultural barriers so that many might receive salvation.

Samo, Northern Samo Across Countries (ROP3 - 108579) reported in the following countries:

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 Definitions page.

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