Prototype rebuild by the IMB Innovation Team. The official site is peoplegroups.org.

People group profile · PG015127

The Nyoro of Uganda

The Nyoro of Uganda, numbering about 1,465,000 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are a Bantu people of western Uganda descended from the Babiito dynasty that founded the Bunyoro-Kitara kingdom after the fall of the earlier Kitara empire, once among Central Africa's most powerful states before its 1890s defeat by the British.

They are an indigenous people in the Bantu, Central-Lakes people cluster of the Sub-Saharan African Peoples. Their primary religion is Roman Catholicism, and they primarily speak Nyoro.

Pray for the NyoroPrint profile

AI-generated illustration representing the Nyoro people
AI-generated illustration, not a photograph. Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Nyoro

Fast facts

Country
Uganda
Population
1,465,000
Affinity group
Sub-Saharan African Peoples
People cluster
Bantu, Central-Lakes
Primary language
Nyoro (nyo)
Primary religion
Roman Catholicism
Strategic Progress Index
Engaged yet Unreached
Evangelical
Less than 2%
GSEC
Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
Lostness priority
Expanding Unreached People Group
Region
Eastern Africa, Africa
Location
Buliisa, Hoima, Kibaale, Kiryandongo, and Masindi districts; also Kiboga, Kyankwanzi, Kyegegwa, and Kyenjojo districts east of Lake Albert

Where they live

Gospel status

The Nyoro are Engaged yet Unreached, which means fewer than 2% are evangelical Christians, but there are sustained efforts to establish self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice. In GSEC terms, this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years.

  • Congregations exist Yes
  • Church planting in the last two years No Churches Planted

Next steps for the Nyoro

  • 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

Primary religion

Roman Catholicism · Christianity

93% adherents

Primary language

Nyoro · Atlantic-Congo family

100% speak Nyoro

Gospel resources in Nyoro

  • Bible available, published 2009
  • JESUS Film available
  • Radio programs not available
  • Gospel recordings available
  • Audio resources available
  • Bible stories not available

Films

Bibles

Find more at the JESUS Film Project, Bible.com and Faith Comes by Hearing.

Pray for the Nyoro

  1. Revelation 7:9. Pray for the day when people from this group stand before the throne with every nation, tribe, people and language.
  2. John 17:3. Pray that many will come to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom he has sent.
  3. Psalm 27:1. Pray that new believers will be strengthened in the face of persecution, with the Lord as their stronghold.
  4. Romans 12:4–5. Pray that believers from many cultures will work together as one body so that the church is built up.

Download a prayer guide

Know something we don't? Submit updates to IMB Global Research.