The Soninke of Senegal

The Soninke of Senegal, numbering approximately 636,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a West African Mnade-speaking ethnic group inhabiting Mali, southern Mauritania, eastern Senegal, The Gambia, and Guinea. They mostly adhere to Folk Islam and Soninke is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Soninke

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Sub-Saharan African Peoples
Country: Senegal
People Cluster: Soninke
Primary Language(s): Soninke (snk)
Primary Religion(s): Folk Islam
Population: 636,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Engaged yet Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG014264
View on Joshua Project

Pray for the Soninke 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: Soninke
Language Family: Mande

100%
%
Soninke Speakers

Media Resources in Soninke:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film

1 film

Bible Resources in Soninke:

No Bible resources are listed for this language.

Or check out the Soninke bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

SPI: Unreached yet Engaged

The Soninke 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 Soninke:
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 Soninke of Senegal

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
readPsalm 19:1

Pray that those who are lost will look to the heavens and see the glory of God displayed, leading them to seek Him and know Him as their Creator and Savior.

Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; bring an offering, and come into his courts!
readPsalm 96:8

Pray for people here to humbly give God the glory due His name.

Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities.
readPsalm 51:9

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will have confidence that God has turned His face from their sins and forgiven their iniquities.

Jesus said to them, "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe."
readJohn 6:35-36

Praise God for the things such as bread that He has provided as natural conversation bridges to the gospel. Pray that believers will use any bridges He provides to share the gospel with those who do not yet know the good news.

Soninke Across Countries (ROP3 - 109413) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

7 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
SoninkeSoninkeMali2,300,000Engaged yet UnreachedSoninkeSunni Islam
SoninkeSoninkeSenegal636,000Engaged yet UnreachedSoninkeFolk Islam
SoninkeSoninkeCote d’Ivoire241,000Engaged yet UnreachedSoninkeSunni Islam
SoninkeSoninkeGambia204,000Engaged yet UnreachedSoninkeFolk Islam
SoninkeSoninkeMauritania151,000Engaged yet UnreachedSoninkeFolk Islam
SoninkeSoninkeGuinea-Bissau11,500Engaged yet UnreachedSoninkeFolk Islam
SoninkeSoninkeUnited States5,200Engaged yet UnreachedSoninkeSunni 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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