• Affinity Bloc:  

Affinity Bloc:  Sub-Saharan Peoples What is an Affinity Bloc?

Population

956,511,000

Number of People Clusters

54

People Groups (by Country)

3,097

Unreached People Groups

660 (21 %)

Map Notes
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Progress Scale: ●●●●●
People Cluster ▲ Population Peoples
by Country		 Unreached
by Country		 % Groups
Unreached		 Popl in
Unreached		 % Popl in
Unreached		 Progress
Scale		 Primary
Religion		 % Christian
Adherent		 %
Evangelical		 Est. Workers
Needed * 
Adamawa-Ubangi 13,822,000 162 12 7.4 % 204,000 1.5 %    ● Christianity 69.98 % 21.93 % 4
Atlantic 8,116,000 65 24 36.9 % 906,000 11.2 %    ● Islam 14.16 % 2.86 % 18
Atlantic-Jola 811,000 20 9 45.0 % 76,000 9.4 %    ● Islam 16.85 % 0.90 % 2
Atlantic-Wolof 6,683,000 14 14 100.0 % 6,683,000 100.0 %    ● Islam 0.06 % 0.02 % 134
Bantu, Cameroon-Bamileke 6,987,000 67 0 0.0 % Unknown 0.0 %    ● Christianity 67.35 % 7.80 % -
Bantu, Central-Congo 33,812,000 161 0 0.0 % Unknown 0.0 %    ● Christianity 88.91 % 17.39 % -
Bantu, Central-East 5,254,000 10 0 0.0 % Unknown 0.0 %    ● Christianity 70.17 % 14.76 % -
Bantu, Central-Lakes 72,003,000 101 0 0.0 % Unknown 0.0 %    ● Christianity 89.04 % 31.15 % -
Bantu, Central-Luba 21,706,000 18 0 0.0 % Unknown 0.0 %    ● Christianity 87.90 % 18.86 % -
Bantu, Central-South 37,116,000 137 0 0.0 % Unknown 0.0 %    ● Christianity 88.73 % 22.40 % -
Bantu, Central-Southeast 10,882,000 11 0 0.0 % Unknown 0.0 %    ● Christianity 64.75 % 19.24 % -
Bantu, Central-Southwest 12,905,000 20 0 0.0 % Unknown 0.0 %    ● Christianity 94.71 % 20.82 % -
Bantu, Central-Tanzania 32,062,000 59 2 3.4 % 776,000 2.4 %    ● Christianity 58.19 % 12.41 % 16
Bantu, Chewa-Sena 22,902,000 30 0 0.0 % Unknown 0.0 %    ● Christianity 85.33 % 21.78 % -
Bantu, East-Coastal 6,643,000 26 10 38.5 % 1,023,000 15.4 %    ● Christianity 43.74 % 17.13 % 20
Bantu, Gikuyu-Kamba 22,223,000 19 0 0.0 % Unknown 0.0 %    ● Christianity 94.07 % 63.61 % -
Bantu, Kongo 20,157,000 12 0 0.0 % Unknown 0.0 %    ● Christianity 88.55 % 23.10 % -
Bantu, Makua-Yao 33,433,000 52 13 25.0 % 5,730,000 17.1 %    ● Christianity 41.96 % 17.85 % 115
Bantu, Nguni 31,869,000 25 0 0.0 % Unknown 0.0 %    ● Christianity 79.32 % 24.38 % -
Bantu, Northwest 13,065,000 103 1 1.0 % 5,900 0.0 %    ● Christianity 90.46 % 18.23 % 1
Bantu, Shona 13,176,000 28 1 3.6 % 20,000 0.2 %    ● Christianity 72.16 % 23.22 % 1
Bantu, Sotho-Tswana 20,487,000 43 0 0.0 % Unknown 0.0 %    ● Christianity 79.11 % 15.51 % -
Bantu, Southeastern 1,493,000 2 0 0.0 % Unknown 0.0 %    ● Ethnic Religions 40.15 % 16.79 % -
Bantu, Swahili 6,719,000 56 53 94.6 % 6,606,000 98.3 %    ● Islam 1.24 % 0.62 % 132
Benue 40,787,000 339 31 9.1 % 837,000 2.1 %    ● Christianity 76.29 % 27.91 % 17
Chadic 15,116,000 218 65 29.8 % 3,123,000 20.7 %    ● Christianity 39.55 % 10.04 % 62
Fulani / Fulbe 40,947,000 47 47 100.0 % 40,947,000 100.0 %    ● Islam 0.36 % 0.18 % 819
Guera-Naba of Chad 580,000 6 6 100.0 % 580,000 100.0 %    ● Islam 0.06 % 0.02 % 12
Guinean 51,914,000 169 10 5.9 % 863,000 1.7 %    ● Christianity 67.57 % 25.57 % 17
Gur 40,778,000 186 44 23.7 % 5,644,000 13.8 %    ● Islam 23.94 % 9.95 % 113
Hausa 54,882,000 18 18 100.0 % 54,882,000 100.0 %    ● Islam 0.64 % 0.48 % 1,098
Igbo 36,234,000 18 0 0.0 % Unknown 0.0 %    ● Christianity 96.66 % 44.81 % -
Ijaw 6,209,000 11 0 0.0 % Unknown 0.0 %    ● Christianity 97.48 % 40.35 % -
Kanuri-Saharan 12,691,000 28 27 96.4 % 12,647,000 99.7 %    ● Islam 0.02 % 0.01 % 253
Khoisan 2,545,000 57 7 12.3 % 48,000 1.9 %    ● Christianity 80.91 % 17.75 % 1
Kru 4,691,000 55 3 5.5 % 83,000 1.8 %    ● Ethnic Religions 49.46 % 9.82 % 2
Malinke 13,231,000 57 46 80.7 % 12,765,000 96.5 %    ● Islam 1.34 % 0.35 % 255
Malinke-Bambara 7,609,000 16 14 87.5 % 7,405,000 97.3 %    ● Islam 4.06 % 1.02 % 148
Malinke-Jula 5,239,000 12 12 100.0 % 5,239,000 100.0 %    ● Islam 0.63 % 0.21 % 105
Mande 11,783,000 64 18 28.1 % 1,344,000 11.4 %    ● Ethnic Religions 20.60 % 8.55 % 27
Nilotic 43,028,000 134 18 13.4 % 973,000 2.3 %    ● Christianity 73.86 % 29.84 % 19
Nuba Mountains 1,618,000 40 33 82.5 % 996,000 61.6 %    ● Islam 13.07 % 1.54 % 20
Nubian 3,079,000 28 27 96.4 % 3,076,000 99.9 %    ● Islam 0.24 % 0.05 % 62
Nupe 4,357,000 11 6 54.5 % 321,000 7.4 %    ● Islam 18.28 % 3.25 % 6
Ouaddai-Fur 4,230,000 37 36 97.3 % 4,210,000 99.5 %    ● Islam 0.18 % 0.10 % 84
Pygmy 939,000 27 0 0.0 % Unknown 0.0 %    ● Ethnic Religions 34.82 % 9.63 % -
Sara-Bagirmi 4,769,000 35 4 11.4 % 167,000 3.5 %    ● Christianity 54.64 % 12.19 % 3
Songhai 8,313,000 23 22 95.7 % 8,312,000 100.0 %    ● Islam 0.19 % 0.07 % 166
Soninke 3,830,000 17 17 100.0 % 3,830,000 100.0 %    ● Islam 0.26 % 0.02 % 77
Sub-Saharan African, general 1,132,000 10 0 0.0 % Unknown 0.0 %    ● Christianity 62.30 % 11.47 % -
Sub-Saharan African, other 15,168,000 68 2 2.9 % 75,000 0.5 %    ● Christianity 72.11 % 19.16 % 2
Sudanic 14,815,000 81 3 3.7 % 720,000 4.9 %    ● Christianity 84.77 % 24.02 % 14
Susu 2,634,000 5 5 100.0 % 2,634,000 100.0 %    ● Islam 0.19 % 0.02 % 53
Yoruba 49,023,000 39 0 0.0 % Unknown 0.0 %    ● Christianity 61.52 % 47.32 % -
Totals:  54 People Clusters 956,511,000 3,097 660 21.3 % 193,751,000 20.3 %    14 ●       4,150
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  1. Joshua Project data is drawn from many sources and of varying accuracy depending on source and editorial decisions. Populations are scaled to the current year. Other data may have varying ages. We welcome updates.
  2. Joshua Project occasionally adjusts profile text from third party sources. This is done to avoid confusion regarding the current reality of a people group, to fix grammar and spelling and to avoid potentially offensive wording.
  3. A displayed zero can mean true zero, a very small rounded number or sometimes unknown. Blanks mean an unknown value.
  4. Data is not as precise as it appears. Values for %Christian Adherent and %Evangelical (which determine unreached status) are often informed estimates, some more accurate than others. We recommend against using %Christian Adherent and %Evangelical to calculate absolute numbers.
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