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People group profile · PG016233

The Kogui of Colombia

The Kogui of Colombia, numbering about 12,500 people, are Engaged yet Unreached. They are an Indigenous Chibchan-speaking people of the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta who descend from the Tairona civilization and maintain a distinct spiritual and territorial tradition centered on their ancestral mountain homeland.

They are an indigenous people in the South American Indigenous people cluster of the Latin American and Caribbean Peoples. Their primary religion is Ethnoreligion, and they primarily speak Cogui.

Pray for the KoguiPrint profile

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

Fast facts

Country
Colombia
Population
12,500
Affinity group
American Peoples
People cluster
South American Indigenous
Primary language
Cogui (kog)
Primary religion
Ethnoreligion
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
South America, Americas
Location
La Guajira and Magdalena departments: north, east, and west slopes of Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta

Where they live

Gospel status

The Kogui 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 Kogui

  • 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

Ethnoreligion

99% adherents

Primary language

Cogui · Chibchan family

98% speak Cogui

Gospel resources in Cogui

  • Bible available, published 2015
  • JESUS Film available
  • Radio programs not available
  • Gospel recordings available
  • Audio resources available
  • Bible stories not available

Bibles

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

Pray for the Kogui

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

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